Every Other Life
by Aki and Tenshi
Summary: Being a superhero is to make sure every other life is longer than yours. The Titans are adults, disbanded, and want the past behind them, but the past doesn't want to leave the Titans or their children alone, esp a criminal organization called the Strike.
1. Pranks and Fights

_**Aki-** _If you want to skip these author notes, please do. If you decided to read on, I want to tell you all a little it about myself. I have a pretty good track record with completely stories when I am writing them solo (meaning not with Tenshi). However the last chaptered TT fic I wrote was many years ago when I was new to fanfiction and it was a cross-over with Harry Potter. So it's been a while. My obsesion with Teen Titans has een recently been reanimated and has stayed that way for a while. I got this whole story planned out and outlined and i try to update once a weak even though that is not always possible.

I'll admit right here and now I did a terrible thing. I created the dreaded...oc's. Okay, okay, don't click back to the mainpage quite yet. Give the story a shot first. All the original characters are children of the orignal teen titans and the regular teen titans get plenty of screen time, or story time, I guess is the techinical term in this case. Cyborg will take a while to show up, but it's all in purpose. My oc's might seem a little bratty at first, but they are supposed to be.

Just in case you aren't savvy with the DC world beyond the animated Teen Titans, here is the low-down on names: Robin is Dick Grayson. Starfire's alien name is Koriand'r (sp?), but will be going by Kori, Raven is still Raven, Beast Boy is Garfield Logan, but is called Gar, and Cyborg is Victor Stone. And for the oc's, you'll just have to read to find out.

Without any further ado...I present the first chapter of _Every Other Life. _

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* * *

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"Being a superhero is dangerous.  
Your risk everything to have that fame;  
if that is even what you want out of heroism,  
it doesn't matter.  
You put your life at stake  
to make sure every other life is longer than yours. " 

Every Other Life

**Chapter 1: Pranks and Fights**

_Kori lay awake that night, unknowing why insomnia had chosen to plague her. The temperature was fine, her husband beside her had been in death-like sleep for hours, and her children were safe in their own bedrooms. However, something was disturbing her and keeping her from her rest. Some small dread weighed upon her heart and her mind. She kept running through a mental check list: Stove is off, doors are locked, she'd brushed her teeth…_

_Something was off, and she didn't know quite what. She turned on her side and closed her eyes, hoping it would help ease her mind. It didn't. _

_She knew, although she didn't know how she knew, that something, somewhere, was going to happen, something was going to change…_

_What worried her most is that she didn't know what._

…

Alexander Grayson, or Alex for short, walked through the hall of his private school the next morning, people brushing roughly by him. He was small for his age of almost sixteen, especially compared to the steroid-pumped up jocks who found no greater fun than antagonizing him. His hair was black and untamed, his skin pale from too many hours sat in front of the computer in his darkened bedroom rather than outside in the sun. A scowl or look of indifference usually plastered his face, contrasting greatly with the warm green eyes he had inherited from his mother.

"Outta the way," slurred a six foot three tanned football players with a shaved head, easily pushing Alex into the lockers with his forearm despite the fact that the Grayson boy was not even close to 'being in his way.'

On a normal day an incident like this one would have ended with a string of curse words, but today wasn't a normal day. Today was a day of revenge. A small smirk touched Alex's lips. It was payback time.

"Mrs. Darbus," he said to the middle aged homeroom teacher to get her attention to where he stood halfway in the classroom. "Mr. Skooner needs my help this morning with…." He left it hanging. The woman nodded for him to go. It was common knowledge around Stone Hill Prep that Alex was the resident tech nerd. Mr. Skooner, the elderly man who served mainly as the school's tech support, had long ago given up on actually understanding computers, but recruited students who were much more knowledgeable to do his job for him. Alex knew well that this labeled him a dork and even a teacher's pet, but they didn't know the quirks of having access to all of the teacher's computers and having an intimate knowledge with the inner workings of the school network.

However, this morning Alex wasn't skipping homeroom to fix the copier, again, which had come one of his less exciting jobs, nor was he headed to Mr. Skooner's office at all. He realized with this little stunt he might lose his cushy little job that allowed him to skip class unquestioned at a moment's notice, but it would be worth it. Heck, they'd probably need him back in a week anyway…

Covertly typing in the code for the supply closet door that he had gotten off the vice principle's computer two weeks ago, he slipped into the room. His laptop was already hooked up to the wires that ran the height of the far wall. It only took a few pushed buttons and he was in control.

This was gonna be sweet.

…

Halle flipped a long strand of her unnatural shade of red hair over her shoulder in such a nonchalant way that it made most of the boys in her homeroom class stop and stare with their mouths agape. She pretended she didn't notice, but in all honesty, she loved having that power of people, even if it did earn her a few vindictive stares from her female schoolmates.

The only feature that broke her more pleasant qualities, the tanned skin, slim figure, her graceful ease of going through life, was her eyes. A pleasant shade a blue, some would know she had inherited from her father, but icy. There was something cool and collected behind them. They were calculated, knowing, sharp. She was something more then the giggly high school girl she sometimes pretended to be.

Halle was chatting politely, albeit with an air of fakeness about her, to a petite blonde girl she had befriended in order for the blonde to be her chemistry partner so that Halle wouldn't, well, flunk chemistry, as the buzzing intercom came to life.

However, instead of the dull monotone of vice principle Connors reading the morning announcements, a young, excited tone that Halle recognized way too easily was coming through the speakers.

"Today I'm interrupting your usual announcements to bring you some of my own. I would like to report that our star linebacker, Ted Meekins has not been missing last period three times a week for physical therapy. He is in fact just having therapy. You know, for his head…"

Gasps and barely suppressed chuckles filled the chemistry classroom in which Halle sat. Miss Donalds, the nervous first-year teacher, was stunned silent and had a look of horror upon her face that this was happening.

The voice on the intercom continued. "Andy Callahan, defensive tackle, was out with lice last week….," Laughter went uninhibited now, even by those slightly embarrassed by the lowdown on their friends. "Backup quarterback Jason Ryes grades are suffering and he might be kicked off the team, apparently this is a product of the guilt he feels for cheating on his girlfriend…"

Halle's eyes, along with everyone else's in the classroom, glanced over to a raven-haired girl in the front row, Ryes' girlfriend. Previously laughing, she had slapped a hand over her mouth, tears now forming in her eyes. Halle glared at the intercom system. That had just been cruel.

By this time several members of the faculty were simultaneously trying to shut down the intercoms and find the hiding place of the deviant interrupting there school system.

Alex knew he was running out of time as he heard yelling and running footsteps echoing in the hallway near his door. He quickly rambled off his last fact. "The school nurse has spoken with Aaron Jacobs three times about his body odor issue. Anyone who sits behind him in class knows what I am talking about."

Laughter resounded heavily from all the classrooms, all sense of order long lost. Four football players, who had long been Alex's tormentors, were red and fuming. Knowing his end was swiftly coming as the door handle to his closet haven was jiggling, Alex quickly stored his laptop in its case and said his last words as the door flew open.

"This is Alex Grayson, out."

Dragged down the hallway by the sleeve of his oxford shirt, he could barely suppress a small smirk of victory. He had caught sight of two of his bullies, as half the school was watching his procession to the office, rather red-faced. The laughter and cheering of some of the others was just a plus. He tried to ignore the glares and the dark mutterings of some of the other students. And Amy Andrews, the Jason jerk's girlfriend, crying…That grated at his nerves. However no one was glaring more so than a red-headed girl with narrowed blue eyes, arms crossed.

"I can't believe you're my brother," Halle whispered venomously to him as he passed by.

Alex only had the chance to shrug his shoulder before he was forced around the corner by vice principle Connors.

…

Kori Grayson sighed as she walked into the mansion in which her family lived, her teenage son in tow.

"What were you thinking?" she asked, the first words she spoke in him, having not said word during the car ride home from Alex's private school. She wasn't yelling. She never yelled at her kids. She wasn't quite sure of her reasoning. It may have been the fact that she had faced so much worse things in her life the required yelling that childish misdemeanors seemed nothing in comparison. Although, she had to admit, this was on an entirely different level.

Alex just shrugged as an answer, though he was deliberately not meeting her eyes as he took an enormously long time to take off his coat and hang it on the coat rack.

"You're lucky you weren't expelled…" she added.

"Mom," he said, turning to her. "I really don't need you to give me a guilt trip right now."

Kori's eyes flashed. "Maybe you do…What—what…" She struggled for words. That happened often when she got angry or emotional. Sometimes he wondered if she was trying not to curse, but quickly dismissed the notion. He had never heard an overly negative word come out of his mother's mouth, let alone a swear word.

Every time she spoke it was slowly and sometimes with few second pause after she had been addressed. It was if she was carefully measuring each phrase, each word before she said it, afraid of some mistake. She also had the slightest of accents he couldn't quite place. He had asked Uncle Bruce about it when he was younger, but finally old enough to realize there was something…different about his mother. Bruce quickly answered that English wasn't her first language, but refused to elaborate on the topic any further.

Taking a deep breath, his mother continued. "What possessed you to do such a thing?"

"It was just a joke."

Kori placed a hand on her hip. "Not a very funny one."

"Those guys were jerks, Mom! You and Dad always told us to stand up for ourselves."

Realization dawned on Kori's face. Bullies. Her little boy was being targeted by bullies. She had to refrain herself from flying off at that second and starbolting their butts into oblivion rather than deal with the matter at hand.

"There's a difference between standing up for yourself and revenge, Alex."

"What do you want me to do?!" Alex exclaimed, throwing his arms up in a questioning expression. "Fight them. It's four on one and I'm— I'm tiny!"

Kori couldn't honestly refute that statement. He was gangly and nonathletic. He was easily half a head shorter than his sister even though they were twins. It didn't help that both had skipped a grade in their youth. Kori had a vague memory of how Dick used to be shorter than her when they were teens. He shot up when he had turned nineteen though. Kori was sure it would happen for her son eventually too.

"Well, maybe your father could—"

"No," Alex instantly cut her off, his voice edging on dangerous if his mother should chose to push the subject he was all too familiar with. Ever since Alex had been ten or so and he and his father no longer got along, his mother had been trying to push them together. Particularly trying to convince both parties that Dick should teach Alex self-defense. This was the solution to father-son bonding time, dealing with bullies, physical fitness, and birthday outings. (Frankly, Alex rather get a new computer). However, neither ever complied with these suggestions.

"Okay," said Kori, resignedly. "Just—Just go do your homework."

She was halfway out of the room before Alex called after her. "Mom?"

She turned, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry," he said with a timid smile

Kori returned it in full. "It's okay."

Somehow, these two couldn't stay mad at each other.

…

Several hours later, as Kori was lounging on the living room couch with a novel in her hands, Halle came in through the side door.

"You're late," the mother said not in an accusatory tone, but rather one of stating that facts.

However, Halle did not take it that way. "Jeesh, I was at Monique's!" Halle retorted in angry and unnecessary defense.

Kori stared at her, wide-eyed and wordless over the top of her book, not knowing what she had done wrong. Before she could even speak, Halle had huffed and stormed up the large curving staircase.

Kori signed and laid her book down on her lap before rubbing her brow with a weary hand. Kori couldn't understand Halle. Although the teenage girl looked remarkably like her mother in almost every aspect, she had none of Kori's lighthearted temperament. Ever since Halle had entered middle school, the mother and daughter had slowly slipped apart until they couldn't have a civil conversation.

She often wondered what had happened to change her sweet little girl into…well, dare she think it, a bratty teenager. She always drew a blank. She attributed to the fact that she had a far from normal earth adolescents.

"Hey, I'm walking here," said Alex indignantly as his sister roughly brushed by him in the hallway. He had long since changed from his stiff uniform into a comfortable t-shirt and jeans. Halle, on the other hand, was still in her uniform, albeit her shirt had long ago been untucked and unbuttoned fairly low to show off her cleavage and her skirt was rolled up a few inches higher than allowed in school.

Halle gave him a sharp glare that would make all but her brother flinch. "You were a real ass today."

"So what," replied Alex in an I-don't-care-what-you-think attitude. "If anyone of your popular friends had the brains to pull something like that, you would have thought it was hilarious. Your only concern is that I'm going to ruin your social status."

"Did you see Amy Andrews?" retorted Halle because she cared not to respond to her brother's previous comments. "Did you even think about what you said about Jason Ryes would do to her?"

"You don't even like Amy. You're just concerned because _you_ are one of the girls Jason Ryes cheated with."

Halle gasped. She hadn't known her brother knew that little tidbit. He hadn't been invited to that party (or any parties for that matter). "Hey, he kissed me."

"Does it make a difference?" he inquired smartly, a look of victory upon Alex's face for finding the perfect counter argument.

"That was a one time thing and I feel horrible about it. I'm not so low that I just go around kissing other girls' boyfriends. He made out with Alicia Grey three days later anyway."

"Whatever, Halle."

Halle glared at Alex's receding back for the second time that day, but this time it was because she wished he wasn't right.

…

"Where's Alex?" asked Kori, finally commenting on her son's obvious absence at the dinner table that night.

"Said he wasn't hungry," Halle mumbled in reply.

Kori had to keep herself from sighing exasperatedly. The boy was just avoiding his father, as usual.

"So, Halle, how was school?" Dick asked his daughter.

A dark look crossed her face.

"Mom didn't tell you?" the girl asked.

"Mom didn't tell me what?" questioned Dick, interest peaked, looking at Kori.

"Oh, it slipped my mind!" She said putting a hand to her forehead.

"Of course," Halle whispered to herself, simultaneously referring to her mother's absent-mindedness and her ability to always forgive Alex for his wrong-doings.

Kori recounted the events of the day, as best to her knowledge, that resulted in Alex being sent home from school early. All the while, Halle was glowering at the fresh memory.

Dick's chair scratched against the floor as he pushed back from the table. "I'll go talk to him."

"Are you sure—?" asked Kori with apprehension in her tone.

"I'm sure," he cut her off, but not meanly.

In a house their size, it took several minutes for Richard "Dick" Grayson to make the trek from the dining room to his son's bedroom. He used this time to think about what he was going to say. However, by the time he reach Alex's door, his mind was as blank as a chalkboard on Monday morning.

Nevertheless he knocked lightly on his son's bedroom door before opening it slowly.

"Alex?"

The boy in question had his back to the door, furiously typing at his computer.

"One hour, thirteen minutes. Hardly a record, but still…" said Alex.

"What?" Dick was as confused as the cat if the cat had been confused rather than curious.

Alex swiveled in his chair to face his father. "It's how long it has been since you got home to when you talked to me for the first time today." He said it so casually Dick could hardly stand it.

"Well, if you had come to dinner," he bit back.

Alex just rolled his eyes and turned back to his desk.

"About school today," Dick started, but his son cut him off.

"What about it?"

"…You shouldn't have done that…"

"What a great insight."

"Alexander," Dick said with warning on his tone.

"Father," Alex retorted in mock seriousness, complete with a British accent.

"Why are you making this so difficult?" accused Dick.

"Why are you even trying?"

Dick had no reply.

"Look, I'm not expelled. I'm not even being punished that bad because this my first offense and they know that the whole school's computer system would crash without me there. I'll make sure to work extra hard to make up for my grades for the days I am suspended. And it won't happen again. Okay? That make you happy?" Alex spieled off without really caring. It was all a big excuse to make his father get out of his room faster.

It didn't make Dick happy at all, but he decided not to press the subject and returned to dinner.

…

Kori laid awake that night, not knowing was insomnia had chosen to plague her.

Something was off, and she didn't know quite what. She turned on her side and closed her eyes, hoping it would help ease her mind. It didn't.

She knew, although she didn't know how she knew, that something, somewhere, was going to happen, something was going to change…

What worried her most is that she didn't know what.

…

What worried her more is that she knew she wouldn't be able to do anything about it…

* * *

Like, yes? Maybe? Just a little bit? 

This chapter is dedicated to Tenshi, by best friend and writing counterpart who encouraged to write this fic because she really wants to read it.


	2. Birthday Party

**Chapter 2: Birthday Party**

Alex pulled at the collar of his shirt. He hated wearing a tie, they were always too tight when he, although he didn't admit to it, had to get his mother's help to tie it properly. He hated this party too, even if it was to celebrate his and his twin sister's sweet sixteen. They weren't fun in the least bit, not as he had to wear a tie, as already mentioned, or had to small talk with all these important, rich snobby people they had to invite because it was polite. In total he may have known about five people in the room, but as that included his mother, father, sister, and Uncle Bruce, it didn't really count. Shrinking into a dimly lit far corner of the crowded room he wished that no one he was supposed to remember but didn't tried to talk to him.

Quite opposite to Alex, Halle was in her element.

"Little Miss Grayson, I can't believe how grown up you look. Sixteen too, almost a full-grown lady."

"Thank you, Mrs. Everstein," replied Halle sweetly, doting her polite response on the elderly, albeit very rich, lady. Halle indeed did look very grown up, especially compared to her slouching, grumbling brother. Her medium length red-hair fell in curly wisps down her back and she wore a t-length black dress with pink polka dots, giving her both a grown up and yet childish appearance simultaneously. She was the center of attention to the guests who actually came to celebrate the birthday and not to try and talk business with 'Mr. Grayson' or 'Mr. Wayne' or catch up on high-society gossip.

"Where is your brother, dear?" asked Mrs. Everstein's decade-younger confidant, Miss Emily Burrows.

"Oh, you know," said Halle, waving a hand to no where in particular, "Probably hiding somewhere…"

The three chuckled. Yes, they knew what Alexander was like from their repeated visits to the Grayson home. He was hardly a people-person as Halle was. It was a pity to, seeing as he was probably expected to follow in his father's footsteps into the business world as the heir to Wayne Enterprises.

"Having fun?" whispered Kori to her self-ostracized son, a note of teasing in her tone.

Leaning against the wall, glaring at his sister across the room, he mumbled incoherently in reply. But inside, Alex was thankful of his mother's sudden appearance. Although she could be quite cheerful and talkative when just the family was together, she too had problems in large social situations. She was always hesitant to speak, as if afraid to say the wrong thing.

"Don't worry, we'll have the real party tomorrow," Kori tried to comfort, reminding her son of the tradition of having just a small family party after the large public one.

Alex shrugged in reply.

Kori attempted once again to bring her younger child into conversation. "So, what's it like being sixteen…?"  
Alex was taken back a moment. It was a seemingly innocent question. One he had heard many years before from a variety of different people both today and on birthdays past. But the way his mother asked it, with her inquiring eyes, which were not unusual for her, made his thoughts clog. Did she know about that strange tingling feeling he had felt when he had woken up this morning? The urge that he felt in his gut that he could…well he wasn't quite sure what. He did know, however, that his mother, looking slightly baffled by his long silence, could not surely know whatever he was quite sure was probably not actually happening.

"The same as fifteen…" Alex finally answered in fake nonchalance.

Kori observed her son, now again mute, for a moment longer, concerned. The uneasiness she had felt the night before returned to the pit of her stomach. Something was…well, not necessarily wrong, but, not the same.

She shakes her head to clear her head of the worries she is sure are misplaced. Being a retired superhero leaves you too suspicious at times, with your senses heightened to a place that normal life does not need them to be. She just didn't like that her babies were growing up so fast, she reasoned…It was a good excuse.

Halle collapsed on an empty chair with a sigh. Her feet hurt like hell from the black sandal high heels she was wearing, but well, it was the price of beauty. However, she was also glad to be out of the spot light and the repetitious questions about school and how grown up she has become.

"Hey, lil girl…"

"Dad…" she whined, hating the nickname that he had permanently stuck to her for all of her natural born life.

"So," said Dick, taking a chair next to his daughter. "Looks like you're been having fun."

Halle shrugged. "It's not bad…at least not as bad as Alex thinks it is," she said, catching a sight of her brother looking quiet depressed across the room as a old man who had seemed to mistaken him for a waiter was bossing him around.

Dick chuckled. "Yeah, well. That's your brother…"

"I don't care how much he looks like you, Dad, but I firmly believe that he is adopted."

"Sorry, lil girl," he replied, patting her on the head and earning him a glare. "But you guys shared the womb for nine months…"

"Eww, T. M. I."

"It's not like you don't know how it works."

"Yeah, but I really don't need my parent's play-by-play."

Dick laughed again. "I guess not…Oh, it's time for the cake…" Indeed it was as a large and expensively decorated cake was being wheeled out of the kitchen on a dining cart.

"Common, lil girl."

"Dad," said Halle, crossed her arms and refusing to stand, "After sixteen years, I think it is time for a new nickname or, here's a crazy idea, call me by my _real_ name."

"What fun's that? Anyway, sixteen or not, you'll always be my little girl."

Halle rolled her ideas and said in a teasing tone, "Lame."

"There calling for you," said Dick, extending hid hand to his daughter to help her up as a round of the happy birthday song was started among the guests. Halle took his hand.

"Good grip," Dick said, shaking his hand to regain the feeling in his fingers after Halle had released it. Before Halle had a chance to rebut or think about her father's statement she, along with Alex from the opposite side of the room, was pushed to the table that now held the cake. Neither brother nor sister looked highly pleased to be within three feet of each other's company.

"Make a wish," chorused the guests not long later. Alex and Halle shared the briefest of glances. What to wish for…

…

"Gar, have finished with the living room yet?" called Raven where she was finally able to throw away the last cardboard box as she finished unpacking her bedroom.

"Almost," came back a muffled yell.

Not reassured in the least bit, knowing all to well the wide definition her husband had for 'almost' she walked tentatively out of their bedroom. "Garfield, all you've set up is the TV."

"And the game station," added Gar, pumping his fist into the air with triumph.

"Garfield Logan," she said in a threatening tone, hoping the use his full name would scare him into submission.

"Well," said Ger, ignoring her and stretching his arms above his head. "I think it's time for a break…" Within an instant he had the game station on and a controller in his hand.

Raven was stuck somewhere between disbelief and accepting the inevitable.

"Hey, I'm done my room—cool, Mega Monkeys 801!"

Raven watched in horror and disbelief as her teenage son joined his father crossed legged on the wooden floor. Raven shook her head in resignation and began to unpack the living room where her husband had left off, which was not very far along.

Although Raven's and Gar's son looked prominently like his mother, he did not share her temperament. He sported her gray complexion and purple eyes. His hair was black and unruly like his father's was eternally messy, even into his thirties. Rather than sharing his mother variation of feelings from indifferent to anger as she had in her youth, his moods were even more wide swung from an adolescent depressed state to the horrible sense of humor he gained from his father.

After Gar was finished goading of his barely won victory over his son he stood to his feet. "Well, I guess it is time to get back to work."

He turned around to find the living room completely set up and his wife sitting, arms crossed, on the couch.

"Rae, I said I was going to do it…" he whined. Raven almost felt the need to remind him he was in his thirties and that that tone had never won any favors with her to start with.

"So Kaden," said Raven, switching her attention to her son, because even though he had become temporally blinded by video games and at least finished unpacking his room first. "How do you like Gotham so far?"

He shrugged, still a little broody from his recent gaming loss. "It's okay."

* * *

Aki- Okay, this may be not as interesting or long as the last chapter, but I promise, it is all coming in due time. Anyway, generally I try to update once a week, so these two chapters in one weekend is a special treat for you guys.

I'm not going to beg for reviews, but feedback is love, people. This story is for you guys and I want to make it the best I can.


	3. Homework

**Chapter 3: Homework**

Alex wasn't completely prepared for the school's reaction to his prank when he returned to school after his suspension time was complete. That was the problem that he has had for years; he had selective vision when it came to looking at the possible consequences of his actions as he was planning them out. Of course, part of him thought it would blow over while he was way for three days, plus the weekend, but he was wrong.

Halle wasn't speaking to him, but that was nothing new. A select few from the student body venerated Alex for his actions, but those were many others like himself who were bullied by the victims of Alex's prank. A large portion of the student body was ignoring his very existence, although Alex wasn't sure if that was because of the stunt he pulled or not, because a large portion of the student body ignored his very existence on a regular basis.

However, what Alex was especially not expecting was the fire that now burned in his four tormentors. Again, his inability to see all possible outcomes. Although Alex's reveal-all session via the intercom had been with the intent to have revenge, he also thought it would be a deterrent to any further bullying. He was wrong. He might have taken the hint by the daggers be stared in the back of his head by Meekins's during homeroom. Or the fact that rather being loud and annoying during lunch, they sat whispering in a little huddle at their exclusively football player table, shooting him furtive glances that he tried desperately to ignore.

So, when the hallways were empty, as Alex stayed after school to help with a computer problem (he knew they would need him back), and he was shanghaied on the way to his locker by four burly football players, it wasn't much of a surprise.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex demanded as he was shoved roughly against a wall and surrounded.

"Just getting some pay back," slurred the Aaron Jacobs, cracking his knuckles in what was supposed to be an intimidating manner. He seemed to be both the originator and leader of this little group, which was amazing because he was by far the stupidest one.

Ted Meekins grunted in agreement, Jason glared, flushed in anger, and Andy stood back farther then the others, nervous and darty-eyed, as if waiting to get caught. Andy was easily the smartest in the group, better than average intelligence even if his grades didn't reflect it all the time. Andy and Alex had gone to the same middle school; they weren't close friends, but they weren't enemies either. But he had a major growth spurt that adolescent boys get and that Alex was still awaiting the summer before freshman year and joined the football team. All Alex said was that Andy had lice, no biggie, he had no reason to be seeking revenge. He was much too unassertive to stand up to his 'friends' and their bullying. He rarely initiated such actions, but did it make any difference?

"Aren't you late for practice," Alex spitted out, sounding much more confident than he was actually feeling.

"Cancelled for rain, jerk. No one's going to miss us." This time it was Jason who spoke. Okay, maybe he wasn't too dumb either…at least he was doing more than grunting, which is more than can be said for Meekins.

"Oh…" spilled out of Alex's mouth in daunting realization. He was going to get beat up, _seriously_ beat up. Sure these guys had damaged his pride and had given him a few bruises from shoves, and trips, and a punch once or twice…but he saw the fire in their eyes. He was going to be beaten to a bloody pulp.

"Oh, looks like the smart-aleck is all out of words," mocked Jason, banging his fist into his other hand menacingly. Meekins and Jacobs laughed derisively as Andy Callahan chuckled weakly.

"At least I know words more than one syllable long, you neanderthals."

"Was that an insult?" demanded Jacobs with fury.

"It's okay, I can wait until you find a dictionary," retorted Alex swiftly.

"Let's get this over with," grumbled Meekins, speaking for the first time. The only thing that kept Alex from making a smartass comment about mumble-mouth was that he remembered his back was against the wall, literally, and he better stop pissing them off and try to talk himself of this situation. Maybe they'd listen to reason…Ha! Reason! He wouldn't be cracking himself up if the situation weren't so serious.

Jason Ryes took a menacing step forward, he had a vendetta, well, that is if he knew what that meant. "Because of _you_ my girlfriend dumped me," he whispered harshly.

"Well," said Alex, trying the best to keep his tone even, to appear that he wasn't shaking on spot, and loud, hoping that maybe some member of the faulty will hear him and investigate. "Maybe you should have thought of that before you sucked face with my sister."

"Don't talk to me about that slut!" he swore, advancing even more.

"She's not a—," Alex began, but never had a chance to finish as several things happened in rapid succession. First Jason's fist connected with Alex's gut, effectively knocking the breath out of him. Second, a warm tingling feeling filled Alex's body and, in flash of blue light, the four footballers ended up in tangled heap against the opposite wall. Alex stared wide-eyed. How did that happened?

"What did you do, you little freak!?" demanded Jason, filled with rage, stumbling to get to his feat and eager to attack the smaller boy again.

"Jason," interrupted Andy, "Shuddup! Someone is coming. Let's get out of here." It was true, an indiscernible teacher's voice was calling, 'Who's there?' from around the corner, attracted by the ruckus. The footballers, now disentangled, got up from the floor and quickly exited down the staircase.

"You haven't seen the end of us," swore Jacobs over his shoulder as they departed.

"Well, that's melodramatic," Alex said to no one just about the time Mr. Collins, the math teacher appeared at the top of the steps connected to the hall.

"Mr. Grayson," the teacher said, confused. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," Alex said, maybe just a little too swiftly. "Just tripped."

Mr. Collins gave Alex a disbelieving look, but as there was no evidence of vandalism or thievery going on, he excused him. "Well, better get home, it's getting late," instructed Mr. Collins.

Alex nodded in agreement and continued his way to his locker, trying to pretend he really had just tripped so he didn't had to explain his light-headedness or they over-whelming feeling of god knows what.

…

It hadn't been a bad day, per say, but Kori was officially bored. Maybe it was because Alex had been home with her the last few days during his suspension. True, he spent most of his time locked in his room, but he came down to eat and watched some television with her. And maybe it was the knowledge that she could walk upstairs at anytime to talk to him was comforting. No one but her was home for the better part of this Thursday.

She glanced for the umpteenth time at the wall clock. There was only ten seconds difference from the last time she checked. She picked up a magazine off the coffee table and flipped through it, bored. She tossed back on the table a short while later, checking the clock…she had successfully wasted one minutes of her life.

Maybe she should get a job, and tha she'd have something to do during the day. She was never required to seek employment on a financial standpoint, that was always covered by Dick's…background. Her days had been much more full years ago when they when the kid's were young, and Dick wasn't working so much in preparation of Bruce's upcoming retirement. It didn't help that she didn't _fit_ in this town. Sure she was pictured in the newspaper and she often frequented those charity events that rich people go to all dressed up. But she couldn't walk down the street and find a café or pizza place to eat with a couple a friends like back when she lived in J—

Kori closed her eyes tightly, trying to rid herself of the bitter memories that threatened to bring tears to her eyes.

The front door banged open unceremoniously. "I'm home," announced Halle, making a beeline for the staircase. However, with incredible speed, her path was blocked off by her mother, looking all too cheery to see her.

"Welcome home! How was your schooling?" asked Kori exuberantly.

"Umm…fine," said Halle slowly, inching around her mother towards the staircase. This wasn't unusual behavior for Halle's adult look-alike, but it still freaked her out. It just wasn't _normal_. "I've got to go do…er…homework," Halle excused herself, scurrying up the steps.

Kori sighed in failure and sat, shoulder slumped dejectedly, back on the couch. Not long later the front door opened again, albeit more carefully. Kori looked up and was over to the entrance in a heartbeat.

"Alex, you're home," she said warmly, embracing her son in a tight hug, completely disregarding the fact that he was a teenage boy who had long ago grown out of the custom of hugging his mommy when he returned home from school.

He mumbled incoherently in response.

Kori let go, a look of concern across her face. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's fine…everything's fine," Alex muttered unconvincingly, looking utterly confused.

"Are...you sure?" questioned Kori.

"I'm sure," he garbled. "I've gotta do some homework." He escaped upstairs as his elder twin sister had.

"What's with these Earth schools and their 'homework'," said Kori in mild frustration to the empty hall.

…

Far across the city, where people could only afford mildly decent apartments, another mother was waiting for her son to return home. She was sitting at the kitchen table, files spread over it. She read the pages, rubbing her eyes tiredly from endless, tedious work.

Her concentration broke when she heard the front door being unlocked. She tapped the pile of papers together and quickly stacked the files so Kaden won't see the contents. He was too young and she tried to not mix work and family as much as she could.

"You're home," she stated in a simple greeting as her son entered, dropping his worn, dark green book bag onto the floor by the corner of the couch in the connected living room. Kaden nodded in response.

"Good first day?" Raven asked.

"Good as to be expected," Kaden replied, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter.

"Meaning?" probed Raven although she already knew the answer and didn't expect one from Kaden. The bitterness and blandness in his tone told enough. She knew the constant relocating of their little family didn't make life easy on Kaden. Even though Raven had no personal experience with public schools or any formal school for that matter, she knew being the new kid over and over again could not be easy, especially when Kaden natural appearance preclassified him as a 'freak.'

Raven switched questions. "Did you make any friends?" It sounded corny before it even left her mouth.

Kaden gave his mother a look that said he wasn't going to dignify that question with an answer.

"You should at least try," Raven attempted lamely, feeling like a complete hypocrite because she was hardly the type to get a new 'bff' on the first day, or ever.

Kaden delayed answering by taking his time to plop down on the couch, extending his legs clad in faded gray jeans in front of him, and taking a bit of his apple, chewing slowly.

"What's the point? By the time I begin to _tolerate_ someone, we'll probably move again." Although his tone was causal, Raven knew the depth of its meaning. She wanted to say something, she knew this had been affecting him for a long while now, but touchy-feely, heart-to-heart stuff wasn't really her forte. Of course, her motherly instincts took over.

"Kaden, I know this is hard for you—,"

"Look," he interrupted. "Chill, no biggie. In this city there are a whole load of kids that look much freakier than I do." With that Kaden exited to his bedroom, leaving his book bag behind.

"Don't you have homework?" said Raven lamely to herself.

Dick yawned as he opened the front door. It was funny, he was used to be able to stay up for days on end trying to untangle the mystery of Slade or some other villain, yet with a few long days of office work and meetings with really boring executives or whatever the hell they were, he was pooped. Of course, he refused to believe it had any connection with him not being as young as he used to be.

"Dick!" said an excitedly tone as he was wrapped in a tight, albeit slightly exhausted hug.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "How was your day…?"

"Oh, it was most terribly boring and the kids are home but they have to do the homework and I got even more bored and I tried to cook, but none of my usual ingredients are in 'the frig,' but no one has ever liked my cooking but you. Did you know we were out of mustard? But now you are home and I can stop the bordness and be joyous," she said in one breath.

"Right," replied Dick. Sometimes he forgot how fast his wife could talk when she put her mind to it. "So Halle and Alex are upstairs," he said, pulling uncomfortably at his tie to pull it off.

Kori nodded. "Yes, but they were acting most peculiar."

"More than usual?" Dick joked, but it went over the redhead's head.

"Well, particularly Alex. Perhaps he has an insect?"

"Insect?" said Dick with confusion. "You mean a bug."

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"…Sure…Alex was peculiar how?" asked Dick.

"Um," said Kori, trying to find words fit to describe him. "He was all mumbley and his eyes were iced over?"

"Glazed over?"

"Isn't that what I said?"

"Hmmm…"

"Do you know what is wrong with him?" asked Kori, almost pleadingly.

"Well, he's a teenage boy, it could be almost anything. Popularity, grades, drugs, girls… maybe even boys….Hey, are you alright?" asked Dick suddenly, seeing Kori's face drop in sadness.

"Yes…," she sniffled, "Alright, no."

"What's the matter?" he said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, she turned halfway away from him.

"It's just that…" she started slowly, but her voice sped up as she went along, "It was so easy when they were babies, but now they are all grown up and they won't talk to me about anything and I can't tell what's wrong and earth problems are so much different then what my problems were growing up and I don't know what to do because I didn't go to earth school or have to deal with girls and boys and these 'drugs.' And I can never tell if it is girls, boys, and drugs or it is just because they have an insect."

"Bug."

"Whatever."

"Look, Kori, teenagers are supposed to be unsolvable drama queen puzzle."

Kori had a confused expression on her face, not prepared for her husband's mixed metaphor.

"Okay, you're not supposed to understand them. Neither of us had an exactly normal adolescence to give us experience, but we'll figure it out. We can do it, together. 'Kay?"

Kori nodded in agreement and smiled slightly. Dick armed his arms around her and she laid her head on his chest.

…

Up in his room, Alex had done exactly no homework since his return home over two hours ago. Instead he stared at his hands. He sighed, this was pointless.

He got up and walked over to a full length mirror that hung on the far wall. He observed his appearance, He look just the same as always, expect perhaps paler and a bit more frazzled. Closing his eyes he tried to relive 'the incident' as he now referred to it in his head from earlier that very day. He started from when he was first confronted. He remembered the pain in his back from being shoved into the wall. He remembered enemies cracking their knuckles, slurred threats, the fear that was felt like a knot in his chest, anger that he couldn't place the reason for, a fist connecting with his gut, and the tingling feeling running through his body.

He opened his eyes, narrowly at first, head bowed. Blue light, he saw blue light. He opened them fully to see to blue orbs around his loosely clutched fists. He had to be delusional. He looked up into the mirror and saw, to his great shock, that his eyes were glowing the same shade of blue. At that moment everything dissipated. The orbs shot from his hands, he stumbled back in surprise, tripped on the edge of his rug, and fell hard onto his bottom.

Still shaky, he looked from his place on the floor to see three large, connecting, spider web cracks across the mirror. It was real. A fist pounded on the wall separating his and Halle's room.

"Cut it out with the exploding experiments, nerdlinger, I'm on the phone!" Halle shouted through the wall.

Yes, it was definitely real.

* * *

Aki- And the plot thickens...Thanks to my readers and the people that put this story on thier favorites and alerts lists and to my reviewers. I appriciate anything from praise to constructive criticism to pointing out blaring grammar or spelling mistakes that I didn't catch because I am horrible at proofreading.

Preview...The next chapter is named, "An Understanding."


	4. An Understanding

**Chapter 4: An Understanding**

Her fingertips trailed against the cool cement walls as she walked down the enclosed, darkened hallway. The kids were at school. That was the rule. No coming here when the kids where home, it was too suspicious, too dangerous, too risky. The hallway opened to a large round room, two metal doors leading off onto other directions, its walls decorated with glass cases, large computers screens, television monitors, all turned off. Never used.

"Lights on," she said, and the room was bathed in light just as she knew it would. But only because she said it. If an intruder had, it wouldn't work. Nothing in this room would. A security measure.

When her eyes adjusted to the light, she took a few steps into the room. It had been a long while since she had been down here. A glass case stood to her right. She stared up into it silently, observing the two colorful adolescent outfits, on half mannequins of a man and woman. She tore her eyes away.

About half around the round room from the glass case was Kori's true destination. A large mahogany cabinet stood in the most shadowy corner of the room, rather out of place with the sharp edges of glass and steel and modern technology. They were her things. A few drawers, close to the floor, held an assortment of things to large to fit on the orderly shelves behind the double doors she just opened. Clothes, bags, weapons, secrets…her life before this life. Dick said they were too dangerous to keep up in the house were anyone could stumble upon there secrets. But the shelves above held more important things, at least to Kori anyway.

Her hand reached instantly to what she desired, a large and slightly worn book that sat lopsidedly on the top shelf. She pulled it down without hesitation. She ran her hand over the self-decorated cover. Markers and gel pens filling in designs of heart and flowers, surrounding the intricately spelled, "Friends," as the title.

Kori sat down on the floor, crossed her legs, propped the books onto her lap, and carefully flipped open the first page. She wasn't sure how to explain it…it was the mix of a journal, scrap book, and picture album. Newspaper clippings, photographs, movie tickets, everyday things that were so amazing to an alien like herself, unfamiliar with earth. Occasionally a scribbled note filled the margins of pages, along with little doodles. They came from everyone. A few, well chosen words from Raven, who helped Starfire with this endeavor more often then one would think, having taken the responsibility upon herself that Star didn't hurt herself with the scissors or accidentally glue her hands together…again. Robin had contributed his thoughts as well, but more towards the end, once they had started dating and he was less obsessive about catching Slade. Cyborg and Beast Boy had made their marks as well, at those precious mid-day moments when all the villains were on vacation and the two boys had decided to stop their video game war and sit at the kitchen counter with their alien team member and work with her. Cyborg often drew arrows to pictures and made comments on what was happening in them. Beast Boy had fun adding corny jokes in the empty spaces that related just slightly to the theme on the page. He also drew a variety of little animals in the corners, always green, of course.

Without her volition, a tear fell from her eyes onto the newsprint of the page below. She hastily wiped her eyes. Pretending to herself her first concern was to not ruin the hard-worked pages of the scrap book on her lap. Her memories incarnate on paper so dried and wrinkled from too much glue and too much use it look like a harsh wind would turn them all to dust, ancient history, death…just like the Teen Titans.

Kori closed her eyes and tried to the press the sobering thoughts that had been so unfamiliar to her in her teenage years out of her mind. She wanted to dwell in the moments when the Teen Titans were still teenagers and a team. She wanted to forget everything that destroyed them after. She wanted to live in the fake naivety that the good guys always win and friendship never ends and they were never going to grow up.

Once she had regained composure and was sure she eyes were no longer red, Kori stood and replaced the book on the top shelf of the cabinet, her finger drawing across the spine as though not willing to let it go quite yet.

She turned and left, banging the doors of the cabinet behind her with unprecedented rage. "Lights out," she choked as she exited the room.

…

"Where is it…Where is it…." she mumbled repeatedly to herself under her breath. "This is not good…this is _not _good," she switched her mantra. Halle was tearing her bedroom apart. The bed clothes were torn away. Clothes lay in heaps upon the floor. The drawers on her dressers and desk where thrown open in search. The normally neat room was in shambles.

"Ah!" she yelled in aggravation. "How could I lose it?" She fell dramatically upon her knees onto the floor, clutching her fists.

"Hey, psycho," said a voice from her open doorway. "Can you shut it, I have something called homework and you are distracting me with your teen angsting."

"Shut up, Alex," Halle growled, getting to her feet. "If you are not going to be helpful then just leave."

"Helpful with what?" Alex asked, a little curious.

"Remember like a week ago when Sophie was over?" Alex nodded. "Well she accidentally left her necklace here. I was going to return it at school, but then I realized it would go perfect with my dress I wore to our birthday party so I borrowed it. And now I can't find it. Sophie got that necklace from her grandmother who's dead. I feel absolutely horrible. I know it's here somewhere. I remember distinctly taking it off the night of the party in here. And now…" she sighed in exasperation.

"I can help you search," stated Alex, much to Halle's surprise.

"You can help?" she questioned skeptically.

"Yeah," said Alex, shrugging his shoulders with his hands in his pants pockets. He didn't move.

"Well?" Halle questioned his inaction.

"I said I _can_ help, not that I necessarily will."

"What do you want?" said Halle through gritted teeth. She normally wouldn't succumb to Alex's taunting, but she was a desperate woman.

"Half of your allowance for a month," he stated simply, as if this were all planned out. It sounded like a strange proposition. True, there father was the heir to billions, but their parents restricted the money the twins were able to spend on frivolous things. Apparently it was supposed to build character.

"You wouldn't," she growled.

"Yeah, I would. You see, I could ask for all of your allowance for the next two months if I wanted, but I want only a quarter of that. See I need, well I won't fry your brain with the technical terms, something new for my computer…No? How about this, I'll only make me pay me if _I _find it. If you do, don't...So, do we have a deal?"

Halle glared daggers at her brother for a moment. He stood unflinchingly under her gaze.

"Fine," she spit out. "Then get looking. We need to find it tonight!"

"Um, is this it," he said, holding up a golden chain with a small charm dangling on the end. He had picked it up from a shelf on the dusty bookcase right next to her door. It was obvious he had spotted it the moment he had entered the room. "Should I expect cash or check?" he teased, replacing the necklace onto the shelf.

"You jerk!" Halle yelled, coming across the room in two swift strides and punching Alex fiercely on the arm.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the spot of contact with his opposite hand. He looked down at his injury. "Jeez, when did you get so freakin' strong?"

"What do mean by that?" she asked roughly, hand on her hip.

"I think I'm gonna have a bruise…" Alex whined.

"I didn't hit you _that_ hard," Halle reasoned.

"Look yourself," commanded Alex, removing his hand. True to his word there was a red mark and a beginning a bruise.

"How did I…" she looked down at her hands with a mix of horror and shock.

Something flickered behind Alex's eyes. A recognition.

"Halle," he said, his voice completely changed from the accusatory tone it was before. "Have you…ever since we turned sixteen…has there anything …different than before…?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Halle lied, looking up at him.

"Sure. Okay. Whatever, forget it," said Alex, although he didn't look as he believed her nor was he going to forget it. He had an understanding. Not completely, just the beginning. Fingertips brushing up against something in the dark, still trying to get a firm grip kind of understanding, but it was better then the pitch darkness he was stumbling about before.

…

Dick pulled at his tie uncomfortably. He hated wearing them, but it was an occupational hazard. Thankfully the work day was almost over. He had to sit through two, count 'em, _two,_ terribly boring board meetings today. It didn't even know they were allowed to do that. It was pure torture. It was times like these he regretted retiring from superhero work…but he didn't want to think about that at the moment.

"Um, Mr. Grayson," said the nervous new secretary, knocking on his slightly open office door. "There is someone here to see you."

"I didn't think I had an appointment after the meetings," he said, sitting up from where he had been slouching, fixing his tie.

"Uh, you don't. She just showed up."

"Well, didn't you send her away? I'm much too busy to take random walk-ins."

"I know, Mr. Grayson. I told to her to you were booked all day and to make an appointment, but she said she'd wait. She been here since morning and since the meeting did get out a bit early and you have nothing left for the rest of the day, I thought…"

"You thought I should talk to her now," Dick finished, exhausted.

The secretary nodded. "She threatened to show up again tomorrow…"

"Okay," said Dick with an exasperated sigh. "Send her in."

"Right…but just to warn you, she's a bit strange. In appearance, I mean. She has this real pale gray skin and purple hair. Purple!"

Dick's eyes widened in realization and surprise, but the secretary, who had since turned to retrieve the creepy woman who had been terrifying her all day, failed to notice.

It never, had it seemed, that seconds had lasted so long to Dick, waiting, wondering, in a few precious moments whether or not it really was _her._ And what would he do if it was. He hadn't seen her, or any of them, in years.

"Hello, Dick," she said, just inside the doorway. He just stared. He wasn't used to seeing her in anything other then her leotard and cape, but here she was in a simple woman's business suit. Her hair was down and slightly longer then he remembered it. But in all other senses she seemed the same, a bit older, but they all were, more mature, but she had always been from the start, and maybe, perhaps, lighter. Not as uptight. Her voice had a slightly softer tone in it.

"Raven," he finally managed to chock out. "You can close the door…if you need," he added, standing. He felt bare, all the sudden. His identity revealed to a teammate he hadn't previously shared it with.

"Don't worry," she said, closing the door behind her. "I'm here on business. Just not Wayne Enterprise's business…"

* * *

Aki- Ah, cliffhanger...don't kill me. I have the next chapter already written and I will put it up next week. I promise. 


	5. The Truth

**Aki- **One scene in this chapter, the one with Raven and Robin (Dick) was one of the first scenes I thought of for this story and I really enjoyed writing it even if it came out a little more hostile than I imagined.

**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Truth**

When Kaden returned from school his mother wasn't home and his father was asleep on the couch. He had stayed up late the night before working; Kaden knew that he was out like a light. Quickly depositing his bag just inside his room, he crept quietly to the door of his parents' bedroom. Kaden's purple eyes looked at the back of his father's head, almost willing him to awake and stop him from his act of deception. However, Garfield Logan took this moment to make a loud snore and turn into a more comfortable position on the couch, breaking Kaden's trance. He lightly placed his hand on the doorknob. He twisted, slowly, until the door clicked open. Pushing the door open a crack just large enough for him, he slipped through.

Once inside, Kaden surveyed the room to make sure he didn't trip over some random object his father left lying on the floor because his dad couldn't be neat to save his life. Literally, Kaden had witnessed his mom threatened his dad more than once over the issue.

Stepping over a rubber chicken, of all things, Kaden began searching the room. His mom hid them some place different every time they moved. He crouched down to peer under the bed and he found…another rubber chicken?...He seriously could not understand why his parents were married to one another. Kaden continued his search. The book case held nothing but, gasp, books. And the dresser was clean. Sighing in exasperation, Kaden went to his parent's closet.

Hands resting on the knobs, he hesitated. Was it really worth it? He had spent many private moments searching the rest of the apartment for his prize: under the bathroom sink, in the kitchen cabinets, somewhere in the living room where the video game console would often distract him from his hunt. His parents were keeping this from for a reason. However, agitation and curiosity got the better of him and he pulled the doors wide.

Pushing the hanging clothes aside, he found a box in the far corner of the closet. A 'fallen' garment obscured it and another box, which held Kaden's school things from when he was a young child, old reports cards, year books, crayon pictures, was stacked on top of the file box. Kaden had to admit, his mother had outdone herself. Flipping off the lid, he pulled out a manila file folder they looked the newest and had been lopsidedly replaced among the remainder of the neat folders.

Kaden kneeled on the carpeted floor, flipping through the papers and documents, trying to absorb as much as he could in a few moments, his ears constantly wary for the sound of any approaching parents.

"The Strike," Kaden whispered to himself, brow furrowed. Out of place among the boring white printer paper, was a colored magazine clipping. He examined the photograph that accompanied it. It showed a family of four, well dressed, apparently rich and well known. The middle-aged man had black hair, the women, his wife, long red hair, orangey tan skin, and a wide smile. There were two teenagers with them, obviously their children by the way they resembled the adults. But what got Kaden's attention most was that he swore he recognized them from somewhere.

His eyes darted over the photograph's caption, hoping to get some answers. Apparently, Mr. Dick Grayson, his wife, Korinna Grayson, and their children, Halle and Alexander, had attended a charity diner last June. Dick Grayson…Dick Grayson…where had he...?...Oh, right, he was the heir to Wayne Enterprises…but that's not where Kaden knew him from.

Kaden stared at the picture. Who the hell was he? And this "Korinna" too?

…

"What kind of business?" asked Dick, but he already knew.

Raven sat down in the chair across the desk from her former counterpart, crossing her legs. "Superhero business."

Dick leaned back in his chair in a way that he used to make him look like he had control of the situation. "I'm not in that business anymore."

"I didn't think _Robin_ could ever quit all the way."

"I found something else in life," he replied dryly.

"Like a family," stated Raven. "Well, maybe you'll be interested in this for them." He placed a manila folder onto his desk. Unable to contain himself, Dick pulled it across the desk and flipped it open.

"They call themselves 'The Strike,'" explained Raven. "That's their symbol," she added, nodding towards a picture Dick had found in the folder of a black and yellow lightening bolts, criss-crossed to form an 'X.' "They been making…attacks….across the country. A few elsewhere in the world. We've hardly caught sit or sound of them. They're quick, efficient. They're not out masquerading and spouting their plans like ordinary villains. They're planning something."

"And you think Gotham is next?" Dick asked in a professional way.

"Look at the list of the places they've attacked. Jump City, Steel City, countless others. All places where titans have been known to be. Gotham just happens to be a city where two former titans live."

"Did you ever consider that this just a trail and they are leading you where they want to…?"

Raven scowled before answering, "Yes. But it's the only lead we've got. We don't have a choice."

Dick scoffed, tossing the papers back down onto his desk with disdain. "You've always got a choice." His tone suggested he was speaking of something deeper than just chasing villains.

"Gar and I didn't," Raven protested with venom. "Unlike you and Starfire, we couldn't pretend to be normal. Neither of us had a home to run back to…Plus, being a hero is the only thing Gar's ever done and the only place where I've fit in. I'm sorry if we couldn't just give up those lives like you two did…"

Ignoring her comments, Dick tapped the papers Raven had given him together, closed the folder, and pushed it across the desk back to her. "I can't help you."

Raven surveyed him for a long moment. Dick stared back.

"At least can't you help yourself? Your children? Aren't they what you live for now?"

"Don't bring them into this," Dick growled protectively.

"You already did. You don't exactly live a private life. Any villain with half a brain could make the connection," shot back Raven.

"They are _fine_," Dick persisted. "They're looked after better than you know."

Raven opened her mouth to retort, but Dick cut her off. "And before you start worrying about my children, worry about your own. What is he now? Fourteen? Fifteen almost? That's right," Dick commented on Raven's slightly surprised expression, "You're not the only one who's kept tabs on your former teammates. With you and Beast Boy, or is it Changeling now, still out there playing heroes you're putting your son in much more danger then I've put my children."

"My son knows how to take care of himself. However, there has been no evidence that the twins know anything about your and your wife's pasts."

"There's no need for them to know."

"There ignorance is dangerous."

"More dangerous then dragging your child around the globe with you to fight the bad guys?" retorted Dick.

"He doesn't fight," Raven quickly retorted. Dick raised his eyebrows. "It's—it's too dangerous. I won't let him. He's still too young."

"You do remember that we were called the _Teen_ Titans, right?"

"It's not the same. None of us—"

"Had parents?" finished of Dick. "At least not ones that minded us crime-fighting. It sure does change when you are on this side. We both just want best for our kids. Maybe we are not that different."

"No, _Dick_," she said his name with a certain amount of vindictiveness. "We are very different." She stood and picked up the folder of his desk. "_I'm_ confronting the truth." And she left.

…  
There were two knocks on Halle's bedroom door.

"What?" she called back unceremoniously from her bed.

The door was pushed open to reveal Alex wearing a smirk. "Pay up time."

"It's not fair. You tricked me," protested Halle with narrowed eyes.

"All's fair in war."

"I though it was 'love and war'?"

"It is," said Alex, leaning against the door post with ease. "But in this case it's just war."

"Fine," Halle spat, getting herself up from where she lounged on her bed. "Turn around."

"What?"

"Turn around! I don't want you to see where I keep my cash."

Alex rolled his eyes, but obliged. Halle approached her dresser, pulled the lid off of a clay pot she had made when she was in elementary school, and counted out a few bills from her rolls of dollars.

"I hope you're happy," said Halle with anything but good will when she handed the money to her brother a moment later.

"Ecstatic," Alex replied, counting the money swiftly before tucking the bills into the back pocket of his blue jeans.

Halle crossed her arms and huffed. "Out of my room, please," she said, by the door, extending her arm to indicate the way out. Obliging, Alex meant to make his way out into the hallway and back to his own room, but before he could take two steps he found himself face flat on the hallway floor, the wind knocked out of his gut.

He groaned and curled into himself. He rolled onto his back and glared at his sister, who was leaning against the wall in support, her face red with laughter.

"You tripped me on purpose," he growled.

"No," Halle managed to choke out between her laughs. "It was an—an accident. But it sure was f—funny!" Her laughs doubled.

Furious, Alex kicked out at her from where he still remained on the floor, but as she was wearing her new stylish boots and he was barefooted, it didn't really help in the least.

"You kicked me!" Halle exclaimed.

"You tripped me," Alex retorted, sitting on the floor still, clutching his injured foot.

"Not on purpose!"

Ales scoffed, standing, wincing a bit as he put his weight on his one foot. "Yeah, you did."

"And there was no need to kick me!"

"Yeah, there was…Plus, you didn't even get hurt. I mean who wears boots when they're hanging out in their room?"

"I'm sorry if _you_ don't understand style."

Alex clutched his heart in mock pain. "Oh, you got me there because you know how important fashion is to me!"

"Well maybe if you didn't dress like," Halle surveyed her brother with distaste. "_That_ you would have a date."

"Well, maybe if _you_," returned Alex, "Didn't dress like that, you wouldn't have so many!"

"What do you mean by that?" said Halle, her voice dangerously low, advancing on her brother. He took a step or two back, remembering the good right hook she had the other day.

"Nothing," cooed Alex. "Nothing that you don't already know."

"Shut up!" Halle shoved Alex. His stumbled back a pace or two, his back banging into the china cabinet which had been not so wisely placed across the hall, opposite both the twins' rooms. Argument forgotten, both watched with wide eyes as the delicate glass objects in the cabinet shook where they stood. Finally, with their breath held for a long moment, most of the glassware remained standing, but a few, taller, easily-unbalanced objects, a bud vase, two delicate champagne glasses, and an antique figurine, toppled onto their sides with a glass on wood sound that seemed to carry loudly throughout the house.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Alex swore is rapid progression.

"Come on," said Halle, carefully opening the cabinet doors as to not disturb any other very breakable things.

Fumbling, the two attempted to right the objects which now lay lopsided amongst the shelves, but nervous hands only lead to more and more being tipped over. Neither was sure which movement actually triggered it, but the cabinet opened, as a door, into the wall. They both stared, mouths agape.

"What is that?" asked Halle, staring down a steep square corridor that disappeared around a curve and into the darkness.

"I don't know, but I sure want to find out…"

* * *

Aki- Ha! Another cliffhanger!

Two things:

One, I know I changed my summary already once, but is it lame./ Do you thinkif it told more about the story it would catch people's attention. If so, any ideas?

Two, If I beleved in reincarnation I would swear I was a comic book geek in another life. I have gotten really into Teen Titans and reading the oringal storyline summaries and stuff and I love asll the superhero movies that have been coming out, but I don't have a clue where you comic books. Comic book stores? They have them, but I have never been in one? So if anyone is a comic book/ DC guru (or someone who can put in contact with one) can you give me information where to go and what stories or comics would be a good place to start. I'm interested in Batman, Teen Titans, and Nightwing. (X-men as well, but that is Marvel).

Feedback is love!


	6. The Secret Room

**Aki- **Hello, here is the next chapter. Some discoveries get made in this one...

Also, my comic book plee from last chapter still stands

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Secret Room**

"Where are you going?" Halle almost shrieked as her brother took several steps forward.

"I'm going down," replied Alex, pointing his thumb over his shoulder, into the bleak secret passage.

"You—," Halle stuttered, "You can't go down _there_? You don't know where it goes?"

"Um, that's sorta of the point. I mean, how many times when we were kids and actually _liked _each other did we try to find secret passage ways. And you can't tell me this isn't cool…So are you going to stand there jabbering or are you going to come with?"

Halle stared at her brother in a shocked stance, then looked a little defeated. "Alright, but let me get a flashlight at least."

Alex shrugged in compliance as Halle rushed off to her room, but rolled his eyes like facing the darkness had been half of the adventure. A minute later, Halle returned with a flashlight, pink, of course, because not even her flashlight could be uncool.

"Shall we?" said Alex, sounding irritated as if she had delayed him for an hour rather then sixty seconds.

"Lead the way," Halle retorted with equal vindictiveness. She still remembered their argument the opening wall had disrupted.

Silently, Alex took a few steps into the hallway, Halle followed. It was not nearly wide enough for two people to walk comfortably side-by-side. Halle clicked on her flashlight even though the passage was still lighted from the hallway. But before either of them had gone more then ten steps, the cabinet door closed shut behind them with a muffled bang.

"Oh shit."

"Glad I brought a flashlight now, aren't you, noob?"

"Come on, let's go," said Alex loudly, ignoring Halle's last comment, his voice echoing slightly within the walls. They began their descent. Halle's flashlight illuminated a few feet in front of them, but nothing more. Alex ran into a wall once, Halle found it very amusing. From that moment on, Alex kept a hand on the wall, making sure he followed the passage when it curved. The passage was an oval-like spiral and the deeper they went, the chillier it became.

"We have to be under the house by now," Alex whispered. His voice sounded loud in the silent, resounding passageway.

"Do you think we will get to the end so—," Halle cut off. Not far from where they were now, just visible from the light from the flashlight, was a doorway with no door, just a blackened rectangle that indicated their trek was coming to an end.

"Ready?" asked Alex in abated breath.

Halle nodded wordlessly before realized Alex couldn't see her. "Yes," she managed to squeak out.

Neither moved an inch.

"I mean, what's the worse that could be down there?" Although Alex sounded as if he was trying to encourage his sister, he was more trying to convince himself to move.

"Yeah, it's only a secret passage that has leads us _way_ underground…We didn't even bring any garlic."

"Not helping."

"Sorry."

Silence.

"Let's just go on three," suggested Alex.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three…You didn't go!"

"Neither did you!"

"This is enough. I didn't walk all the way down here with less than pleasurable company for nothing!" said Halle, and she pushed her brother forward. He stumbled the last few feet and through the door opening. Halle followed. She aimed her flashlight at the far wall. It landed on a closed door that looked like it came straight out of a Star Wars space ship. She moved it slowly to the right to see high tech equipment of some sort.

"I wonder who we can turn the lights on," she wondered and then all hell broke loose.

…

Kaden replaced the picture into its appropriate folder. He didn't need it, he could always look up someone was well-known as a member of the Grayson family on Google. Hell, he could probably find himself on Google. Kaden returned the file to the box and tried to fix everything the way it had been. He wished he could stay longer, but it would be pushing his luck, he had been in here a good ten minutes already, if not more.

He snuck out of his parents' room, closed the door cautiously, and snuck into his own room. He dumped out his school bag and made it appear as if he was doing homework and with no time to spare. Barely three minutes after he had stopped his deviations his mother burst through the door of the apartment very, very pissed off. The banging door had awoken her husband, who sat up on the couch.

"That idiot," she said harshly as the folder in her hands exploded in an aurora of black energy, sending papers and bits of papers across the room.

"He didn't take it well?" asked Gar, being extra cautious in choosing his words.

"No, he didn't take it well. He didn't take it at all. That stubborn…" Raven growled a few choice words under her breath. Kaden was watching silently, sitting on the floor, peering around his partly open door.

Raven walked into the connecting kitchen, Gar still sat on the couch. Kaden saw him flinch slightly as he heard a crashing sound, there went the dishes. Kaden still held to the belief that they should have switched to plastic a long time ago.

Raven returned a few moments later looking, well, not pleased, but composed. There was still some sourness detectable in the lines by her down turned mouth on her otherwise indifferent face.

"I was sure he would…," Gar trailed off. "Well, you remember what he was like. Obsessive and all that..."

"He doesn't want to accept the past," said Raven simply, kicking off her shoes.

"I'm sorry you had a bad day, Rae," said Gar as he began to pick up the papers that had been sprawled across the room.

Kneeling down to help, she said, "I'm used to them by now." Gar smirked at her sarcastic, subtle joke.

"And Kaden, you don't have to hide behind the door."

Kaden chuckled uneasily as he pushed open his door to reveal himself to his parents where he was sitting cross-legged on his bedroom floor.

"I'll help," he said quietly, scrambling out his room on his knees, collecting some of the papers that had reached to his doorway. He spared only half a glance down at the words on the first paper he picked up, trying to let no emotion leak onto his face. He attempted another covert look when he leaned over the paper to grab another just out of his reach. Yes, that paper definitely said something about 'the strike.' He didn't know what, but he did know what his mother had been trying to warn whoever this 'stubborn idiot' she had been ranting about a few moments prior about. But his thoughts instantly switched to that paper out of his reach wasn't a paper at all, but a photograph that had been face down on the rug. He wasn't sure of he had seen this _exact_ picture before, but he had seen some similar to it. It was a photo of the Teen Titans. Kaden instantly identified his mom and dad. The whole grouped seemed to be at on open air restaurant of some sort. His father was wearing a goofy grin, giving his once friend, a large, African American half-robot, named Cyborg, bunny ears. His mother was sitting farthest back from the picture, a barely distinguishable smile on her mouth.

But Kaden's eyes lingered the most on the remaining two titans. Robin, the famous sidekick of Batman and leader of the Teen Titans, sat with his arm casually around the shoulders of his female friend, an orange-skinned, red-haired, green-eyed girl called Starfire. He titled his head to the side, thinking, a vague connection forming in his mind. His lips finally formed a silent 'o' in comprehension.

"Kaden?"

The boy looked up at his mother, who couldn't keep the suspicion out of her look.

"It's a picture of you guys," he explained. "When you were in the Teen Titans." He passed the picture as well as the other paper to his mother, who, along with his father, was still squatting on the floor, although the papers were all collected in a pile by her feet. Raven took the photo and held it carefully on one hand. Her gaze softened, a sadness Kaden could sense leaking through her tough exterior. Gar took her free hand in his and squeezed it gently. His eyes were doleful and distant, his pointed ears were drooped in a silent mourning that was quite opposite from his typical joking demeanor.

An outsider could have sensed the sorrow in the room at that moment, but for Kaden, who knew his parents well and had inherited his mother's empathic abilities, it stabbed him through the heart. Never so clearly had he understood that his parent's existences had years worth of life and friends and pain before he was part of the world. It was something he couldn't touch, not like the past in his memories or the future of tomorrow, or the possibility of saying the right words at this present moment to save his parents from their misery of remembrances and regrets.

After an outstanding long time forced into just seconds, Raven put the picture onto her stack, tapped them together, and replaced them into the folder. "Kaden, you can go back to your homework," she said in a businesslike tone that revealed nothing of the anguish Kaden had felt emanating from her a moment earlier. She stood, the folder held tightly against her chest. "Gar, can you start dinner? I'll be in a few minutes to help."

He nodded soundlessly, stood, and went to the kitchen. Raven exited to their bedroom. Kaden remained, kneeling on the living room carpet, silent, motionless, for about half a minute, contemplating the world his parents had been a part of long before he had ever lived. Yes, his parents had told him about it, the Teen Titans, but in not much more that a history book, factual way, but the story of the Teen Titans went so much deeper.

He took a deep breath, calming himself, trying to rid himself of the tension that had filled him from the inside out even though it wasn't even his. He returned to his room and closed the door behind him. At least he learned one thing, even if the tragedy of the Titans was still a mystery to him. He was going to look up better picture on the internet to be sure, but Dick and Korinna Grayson _and_ Robin and Starfire…well, they were the same people.

…

A high-pitched alarm was going off. Lights were flashing on and off at a dizzying pace. The door descended swiftly from the ceiling, sealing the teenagers into the small room.

Halle held her palms against her ears, eye squinted shut, keeling in on herself against the noise.

"How do we make it stop?" she screamed over the alarm to her brother. He, likewise, was covering his ears. He picked up his the flashlight his sister had dropped onto the floor in the madness. It a few seconds search, the light's beam landed the on a computer. Not any kind he had seen before, one with a large flat screen against the wall and a small, standardized one right above the keyboard. He rushed over. He began typing, furiously, onto the keyboard. Halle watched her brother, seeming completely at ease and working at a lightening speed. In a few moments the alarm stopped sounding, the lights stopped flashing, and dim overhead lights filled the room.

Halle walked over to her brother.

"How—how did you do that?"

"It's 'cause I'm a genius."

"I always thought you just played video games on your computer all day. I didn't think you could do anything useful."

Alex crossed his arms and leaned on one leg. "Anything useful?"

"You know what I meant…," said Halle, rolling her eyes.

Alex shrugged and turned back to the computer.

"What are you doing now?" she asked.

Alex sighed exasperatedly. "If this is any sort of advanced security system, which, look around, I don't think this technology has even been invented yet, than even if someone who happens to be a complete genius, like me, for example, is able to override the system and shut down security, it will make a recording of the break in and send a warning of such to another source. I got to get rid of that."

"Oh." In a minute or too, Halle grew board of watching her brother working on the computer muttering technological terms to himself, half of which Halle was sure he made up. She decided to explore the rest of the room. Not that it was too much to explore, but she had been so distracted by the blaring alarms earlier, she hadn't even glanced elsewhere in the room. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the most colorful objects in the room, in a glass case standing right next to the door the twins had entered through.

She approached it, unsure, or maybe unbelieving, of what she was looking at. "Alex," she called over her shoulder. "You should see this."

"What? I'm busy here."

"You really should see this…"

Alex growled. "Fine. What is it?" he said, coming over to his sister.

Halle pointed up into the glass case. "It's the Robin costume. Y'know, like Batman and Robin…"

"I know who Robin is, this is Gotham…" Alex replied sharply. "But what I don't know is why the Robin outfit is in a secret room in our house."

"But what about this other uniform?" asked Halle, pointing to a blue and purple ensemble made for a girl. "It's kinda cute."

"It's kind of skimpy, if you want my opinion."

"Does it belong to another superhero?" Halle speculated. The two shared a look, a suspicion they weren't ready to say out loud.

"I need to go back to the computer. Still got to open that door," said Alex, pointing to their blocked passageway. Halle nodded in understanding. She continued to explore. She walked slowly around the edge of the room. About halfway around, she found a wooden cabinet, pushing far against the wall, in the shadows between a row of files cabinets and the entrance to another door.

The door of the cabinet was opened a crack. She opened it the rest of the way tentatively. The shelves inside were filled with a variety of objects, dust covered, that must have held some importance to someone, but very little to an outsider like Halle. However, on the top shelf, lay a book, clear of dust, unlike the rest of the contents of the cabinet. She lifted it carefully from the shelf. The cover looked liked something that a first grader would make.

Halle balanced the book on the edge of a lower shelf and opened to the first page. It sported a photograph and a clipping from a newspaper called _The Jump Times_. The headline read, "Teen Heroes Save City…Again!" The front page article had a color picture of five teenagers, dressed in colorful outfits, looking happy, sitting at a picnic table in a park. The tallest was a board-shouldered African American boy with more than half of his body covered in metal. There was a small green boy with a wide grin and another girl with purple hair and a blue cape sitting on one side of the table. On the opposite side was a boy with spiky black hair, eyes covered with a mask, in the very same Robin uniform that was in the glass case. A girl, wearing the outfit that was displayed next to Robin's in glass case, sat next to that dark-haired boy. She had a pleasant smile, wide, green eyes, and looked like an almost replica of Halle.

"Holy—"

Halle jumped not realizing that Alex had come up behind her.

"Those—those," he stuttered pointing at the picture. "Those are our parents."

"Really young versions, but yeah," agreed Halle in a very 'I-can-hardly-believe-this,' breathy tone.

"Our parents were super-heroes…"

* * *

**Aki-** Ah, I keep pulling cliff hangers on you guys. Although this one isn't that bad. Thanks to my readers and double thanks to my reviewers.

Remember, feedback is love.


	7. Plans of Attack

**Aki**- I'm dedicating this chapter to the Coons family. Mr. Coons is a history teacher at my school and just this week him and his wife lost their baby, Molly, at eigth months into the pregnancy. It was really horrible and sad and half of the senior class and all the teachers and tons of the juniors went to the funeral. So this chapter is in memory of that little girl and her family who is really missing her.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 7: Plans of Attack**

"This is insane!" said Halle.

"I know. It's amazing and everything now makes total sense."

"Okay…that's the complete opposite of insane…"

"What's the name Mom used," Alex asked, pointing to the book in Halle's hands. "Her superhero name."

Halle read the caption under the newspaper picture. "Starfire."

"What's her powers?" Alex asked. They flipped through a few pages of the scrap book in search of an answer. Finally they discovered an action shot from another newspaper clipping. A teenage version of their mother was flying across the cityscape, her eyes and hands glowing green.

Alex glanced down at his hands, remembering the bluish glow he had encompassed them not many days ago. "Um, Halle, I think I can do that."

"Do what…?" Halle glanced from Alex to the picture then back to Alex. "You've got to be kidding."

"No, seriously, I can."

"Wow, I think all that computer light has gone to your head…"

"No, I can!" protested Alex loudly, his voice rising in anger.

"Prove it!" Halle demanded, a hand on her hip.

"I can't!" he exclaimed, he'd been trying to conjure up the power during their whole argument, but was finding it impossible, until that moment, when his eyes flashed blue and his balled glowed momentarily. As soon as it came it disappeared.

Halle's eyes widened. She had seen.

"I think you have a power to." Alex pulled up his sleeve to reveal a bruise on his arm. "It still hurts. You _so_ have super strength."

Halle raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Alex was right before, why couldn't he be right now as well.

"This is so cool," Alex began to rant, pacing in a little circle. "We have superpowers! Superpowers! How many teenagers can say that—"

"Why didn't they tell us?" The somber voice of Halle cut him off. He looked at her, his words now lost. "Our parents were superheroes and they didn't tell us. What else are they hiding?"

Alex paused a moment in thought before answering his sister. "We'll just have to ask them."

"What?" Halle spit out in reply.

Alex shrugged. "Unless we're going to keep this," Alex held out his hands as to indicate to his powers. "A secret from them, they are going to have to tell us the truth."

…

Alex and Halle walked out of there school the next day, planning there attack plan for confronting their parents about their pasts. Most everyone in the school thought it was stranger to these those two, heads together, whispering over lunch at a table all by themselves. Everyone knew they didn't get along.

"…It's foolproof," Alex finished of his long and detailed idea.

"But we don't need to blackmail them," replied Halle with a raised, questioning eyebrow. "Why don't we just ask them?"

Alex shook his head at her in disappointment. "You have no imagination."

Halle elbowed her brother in the side. "Look," she whispered, nodding her head to a gray-skinned, black-haired boy that was leaning against the stone wall that made the boundary to the school. He was very out of place among the students filing out of the fence in their crisp uniforms or hoping in their sports cars and rolls for their rides home. This kid was wearing an oversized, zip-up hoodie and beat up blue jeans. So beat up there weren't even in style beat up.

The boy looked their way, having sensed their gaze. Halle blushed and looked immediately away, embarrassed to be caught staring. The mysterious boy pushed off the wall and came towards them

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Alex replied with disinterest.

"Hi," replied Halle, her voice higher then she intended. She looked up at the boy and was surprised to find he had purple eyes.

"I'm Kaden," the boy said, "Me and my rents just moved to Gotham. I went out for a walk and went way farther then I intended. I have no clue where I am."

"Where you live?" asked Alex, hoping to point this stranger in the right direction and get on with trying to convince his sister to blackmail their parents.

"In the Narrows …."

"Jeez, that is far!" Alex exclaimed. "That's all the way downtown."

Kaden gave a shrug, looking unaffected or unknowing of his predicament.

"We can give you a ride," Halle blurted out.

"What?" said the two teenage boys at the same time. Alex sounded perturbed. Kaden sounded surprised.

"You're just going to invite some stranger into our car," Alex hissed at her under his breath.

"It's my car," Halle grumbled back, "Mr. Failed-the-test-twice."

"O-kay," Alex whined, before turning back to Kaden who was watching the exchange with a bit of amusement. "We'll give you a rid home."

"Thanks," said Kaden. "Lead the way."

Kaden followed the twins to parking lot adjacent to the private school. They climbed silently into a silver Volvo and then Halle pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'm Alex, by the way. That's Halle, my sister."

"Big sister," she corrected.

Alex grimaced. "By two minutes."

"Still counts," she retorted back.

"Sorry, man," said Kaden from the backseat. "She's right."

Silence filled the car.

"Halle and Alex," Kaden mused out loud. "Are you, by chance, those Grayson kids?"

"Yes," answered Halle nervously. Her yes flitted to the side for a moment to meet Alex's. They had been taught to be wary of strangers who associated with being billionaire children, but this friendly Goth-like kid didn't seem to be a potential kidnapper.

"I knew I recognized you from somewhere," said Kaden. "You or your parents are like on every newspaper in Gotham."

"We know," Halle and Alex said in an annoyed unison.

"I get from the tone you don't like it too much, then?"

"Being in the public light all the time just because you're rich isn't that much fun," answered Halle. "Well, the rich part is fun, but…y'know."

Kaden chuckled. "Right…well actually I don't. Nowhere near rich here…"

The conversation waned off. No one else knew what to say. Alex turned on the radio after five minutes of the permeating silence.

Twenty minutes later Kdaen spoke. "I know where I am now. I can walk the rest of the way…"

"You sure?" asked Halle.

"You've done enough. I'm sure you've got to get home. Just pull over here."

"Alright," said Halle, obliging.

Kaden hopped out a moment later. "Thanks for the ride," he said. "See you around."

"Only if you get lost on a walk again," Halle replied before rolling up her window.

"Stop flirting," Alex muttered to his sister as they pulled out onto the road.

"I wasn't flirting," Halle protested.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Why don't we get back to talking about what to do about our parents, Mr. and Mrs. Superhero."

Kaden let the fake smile drop off his face the moment the silver car was out of sight. He rubbed the sides of his mouth, smiled hurt. He can't believe they fell for that ruse. He can't believe that actually thought he lived in the Narrows. He wasn't _that_ poor. Not that poor at all. In fact he hadn't wanted to end up the Narrows so much he stopped them far from it to get out of their car.

Glancing up and down the street to make sure no one was watching him, Kaden slipped into an empty alleyway. Not out of sight from the main road, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" He opened his eyes, they were glowing white, black energy slowly surrounded him and he was gone, like a wisp of smoke. A few moments later the black energy appeared in the living room of his apartment, he reappeared, stumbled for his balance, arms waving at his sides like wings, and failed. He ended up catching himself on his elbows as he fell face first towards the floor.

Someone was laughing in the background. Kaden swiftly rolled onto his back to see his father laughing up a storm on the couch. Kaden glared.

"Still having trouble sticking that landing, I see," Gar commented.

"It's harder than it looks."

"You're mom was able to do it when she was fifteen."

Kaden grumbled incoherently.

"Now, I'm supposed to make sure you do your homework, but that's boring. So instead I'm challenging you to a game of Mega Monkeys 801."

Kaden continued to glare, but his gaze softened as he said in deadpan. "Alright, but I hope you know that you're the reason I'm failing algebra."

"You truly are my son," said Gar with a mock look of pride on his face. On second thought, maybe it was genuine pride.

"Let's get—," Gar stood up from the couch, but tripped over his own too feet and handed face first on the carpeted floor.

Kaden was cracking up so hard he was barely able to get out the words, "Still hav—having trouble—sticking that landing, I—I see."

"It's not funny, stop laughing."

Kaden didn't stop laughing until the light bulb on the desk lamp exploded.

…

Diner at the Grayson's that night was a particularly silent affair. Kori often tried to start conversations, but they died within a few sentences. The twins were answered her inquires about school with 'fine's. She didn't notice the covert glances they were throwing each other across the table. Dick had told her work had been too boring to relive. So they sat in silence, the meal being finished more swiftly without talking to steal time from their mouth for eating.

"Mom, Dad," said Halle addressing her parents after everyone had set down their forks, stomachs full. "We need to have a family meeting."

"A family—what?" asked Dick.

"Family meeting," Halle repeated. "An open forum where we can discuss problems in judgmental free environment."

"Okay," agreed Kori, jumping onto the idea all too easily. "Dick," she said, turning to her husband. "You snore."

Alex snickered. Halle facepalmed.

"Actually," Alex interrupted loudly, walking to the other side of the table to stand next to Halle, "Halle and I have something of importance we want to discuss with you."

"We're not raising your allowance," Dick said automatically.

"It's not about our allowances," Alex quickly protested.

"Alright, alright. But it's got to be something important if it's got you two working together."

"We were wondering," Began Alex.

"When you two," said Halle.

"Were going to tell us."

"That you were superheroes."

The shocked silent in the room was so thick it could have been sliced with a sharp blade. There mother's mouth was slightly agape, her eyes were wide and kept darting between her two children and her husband. Although surprise was evident on Dick's face, he regained himself quicker.

"What?" came his elegant reply.

"We found the secret passage that lead to the secret room behind the china cabinet upstairs, Dad," Halle quickly explained. "Or is that Robin."

"And does that mean Uncle Bruce was Batman?" added Alex.

Kori gave a little squeak that caught everyone's attention. She covered her mouth with her hands and blushed.

"Yes, he was," Dick said.

Alex pumped a fist in the air. "I knew it. So cool."

"Not the point," Halle muttered under her breath to her brother. "Were you ever going to tell us?"

"Honestly," said Dick, his wife and him sharing a glance. "Not if we could avoid it."

"But why?" asked Halle in a desperately breaking voice. "Don't you trust us."

"Of course we do," said Kori. "We were….worried."

"About what?"

"A superhero has a lot of enemies," Dick explained. "We didn't want to drag you two into the line of fire. Yes, Robin and Starfire were the people we used to be. _Used to._ Once we decided to have a family, we put those lives behind us."

"But…but…" stuttered Halle in agitation. "We would have found out eventually. "What about our powers?"  
"Powers?" Kori squeaked. "What powers?"

"Yeah, what powers?" Dick repeated.

Halle rolled her eyes. "I have super strength and Alex glows blue."

"That's not it!" Alex protested.

"But you didn't how any signs when you were younger," said Dick in a shocked tone.

"They're new."

"But how—," started Dick, but was interrupted by his wife, who was waving her arms manically as she said.

"The transformation!"

"What?"

"It happened to me when I was at the age-of-coming. I mean coming of age. Remember went I got all weird looking and then I ran off and I ended up with all those new powers…"

"Oh, right."

"What is she talking about?" Halle directed at her father.

"On Tameran, when you get to a certain age," Kori tried to explain but was swiftly cut off.

"What's Tameran?" asked Alex.

"That planet I'm from," answered Kori.

"You mean you're not from Earth. Like we're half-alien," said Halle, although both her and Alex were in a daze. Although Alex seemed to think the idea was too cool for words rather then looking distraught like Halle.

"You didn't know that yet?" asked a nervous Kori.

"You—you mean that my great hair," said Halle as she ran fingers through her red locks, "And my naturally exotic complexion aren't even human?!"

"Way to look at the big picture, Halle," commented Alex.

"Oh, all you care about is Batman," Halle snapped at him.  
"Enough!"

Alex and Halle ceased their squabbling to look at their father, who was now standing and looked entirely in too much in charge for there comfort.

"Not telling you about mine and your mother's past may have been wrong, but that doesn't matter now. What you have to do is learn who to control your powers, because they are gifts, but they can be dangerous. There are people out there who will use those powers against you and the people you love. That's why I—," he glanced at Kori and she gave him an encouraging smile. "That's why we stopped. Because we were not willing to put you two in danger. We'll help you learn to control your powers, but you've got to promise me two things. That you will _never_ use them for ill and that you will keep this a secret."

Their father looked more intense then they had ever seen him. He had always seemed bored with his job at Wayne Enterprises. But now, he was passionate, he understood, he knew…things that Halle and Alex had yet to experience in their rich, sheltered lives.

"We will, Dad," Halle promised.

"Yeah, we will," added Alex.


	8. Training

**Aki- **Hey, I know I missed updating last week, but I was busy and this chapter was hard to write, but I hope you like it. Tenshi is here and is annoying me about the above run-on sentence and being generally obnoxious. **

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: Training**

"What do you know how to do?"

"Sometimes I can, uh, kinda," Alex looked down at his hands hopelessly. "They sorta glow blue and then they shot?"

"They're called starbolts," explained Kori, where the two stood in the gym that Alex rarely stepped foot in. Kori closed her fist and around her hand formed an orb of green colored energy.

Alex eyes grew wide. "You—can just bring it up on command like that?"

Kori let the energy die, her eyes changing from glowing green to her regular shade. "Yes. You will be able to with much practice. The powers of my people are controlled by our emotions, but once you get used to them enough, you learn how to draw them up without that emotion exactly."

"What emotion brings up those starbolty thingies?" asked Alex.

"Righteous fury."

"Righteous what-now? I'm pretty sure I don't do righteous fury."

"Oh really?" said Kori in a skeptical tone. "Think back at the times you have used starbolts already, what brought them about?"

"Well, the other day Halle said I didn't have super powers when I did and knew I did and the first time…" Alex wrinkled his brown in thought. The first time he used these 'starbolts' he was being antagonized by bullies, but he had been antagonized by bullies many times before without anything happening. Of course, he didn't snap until they tried to call Halle a sl—…Oh.

"Am I right?" asked Kori.

"Yes," said Alex grudgingly.

"Glorious!"

"O-kay."

"Have you thought that you might have the ability of flight? That is the most earliest and natural of my people's powers."

"Flight? Um, what emotion do you gotta have to fly?"

"You have to feel the boundless joy of flight," said Kori wistfully. So wistfully that she was floating a few inches off the floor as she said it.

"Riiight," said Alex, looking at his mother with concern. "I haven't felt _boundless joy_ since I found out that they were making a Starcraft Two. What powers do I get for being cynical or geeking out?"  
"Eh…"

"That doesn't sound good."

Kori landed and walked over to her son. "Just try it. Come on, Alex. Once you feel flight…it's amazing. I can't believe I've had to keep it secret all these years, how…how …wonderous it is!" She fixed her son with a big smile.

"Fine," Alex digressed, feeling guilt tripped into it. His mother was unable to _feel_ the boundless joy of flight for years because she gave up superhero work to protect him and his twin sister. She hadn't purposely tried to press that on him, he knew, but it happened anyway.

He closed his eyes and thought to himself. 'Okay, the boundless joy of flight….joy of flight…ugg, I got sick on that airplane once, wait!, that's not joy…joy…starcraft two…zurg's and protose…how do we even know that I can fly in the first place…' Alex popped an eye open, his mother was watching him expectantly.

"I don't think this is working," stated Alex, feet still firmly on the ground.

Kori deflated a bit, but only a little bit. "There's always tomorrow. For now we can work with starbolts, which we know you can do."

…

Dick and Halle had commandeered the mansion gym a few hours later.

"What's that?" asked Halle.

Dick glanced over his shoulder to see where Halle was pointing to scorch mark on the wall.

"Uh, I think that was your mom trying to teach Alex how to control his powers."

"Remind me not to get on his bad side anytime soon," Halle muttered under her breath.

"Okay, don't get on his bad side anytime soon."

"I didn't mean right now," Halle said, rolling her eyes.

"Are you ready?"

"Why am I learning martial arts again…?"

"Why? To be able to know your body and it's limits," said Dick, striking a martial artists pose where he was in a slight lung, his fists held up defensively. "To able to use your strength to its greatest advantage. To be able to…" Dick caught sight of Halle barely restraining her laughter. He stood up straight. "To make sure you don't accidentally use your super strength to hurt somebody."

"I'm not going to hurt anybody," Halle protested with a touch of indignity in her voice.

"Maybe not intentionally, but when your mom first came to earth…well, her hugs could crack ribs…seriously. When you're angry or excited, that strength may come out and affect whoever you're interacting with."

"I thought martial arts were about kicking people's butts."

"No," said Dick through gritted teeth. "They're about—"

"I know, I know…knowing your body and its limits."

"Ah…yes."

"Okay, let's start…but before we do, you're not going to make me wax your car and tell me that it practice, are you? 'Cause I won't be digging this 'wax on, wax off' action."

Dick chuckled. "You got to stop watching old movies."

"It crossed your mind, didn't it?"

"…maybe…"

…

"Not only do you have to learn to aim, you have to learn how to control how much energy to release in your starbolt."

"Well, that's really not a problem, I can't get my setting past extra low."

"It will grow with time and the much practice…Oh, have you been practicing flying in your free time?"

Alex sighed in exasperation. "Yes, and I haven't hovered as much as an inch off the floor."

"Oh, well…keep trying…"

"Why are you so sure I even have flight? I mean, Halle could have it for all we know. Or neither of us."

Kori sighed. "I just have this feeling…"

"Right, feeling, that's concrete proof," Alex muttered, crossing his arms.

"Feelings are proof. My powers, your powers, are controlled by them! If you automatically refuse to believe in your ability to fly of course you never will, you klorpbag!"

"Did you just call me a klorpbag?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you such a horrible name. It was wrong of me, but you were acting so…what?...why are you laughing?"

"…klorp…bag…" Alex managed to squeeze out he uncontrollable snickers. "Wha—the hell—is a stickin'—klorbag?" Tears sprang up in his eyes.

"Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"Look at the floor." He looked.

"What about it?"  
"You're not standing on it anymore."

Indeed he wasn't. He was floating a few inches above it. "I'm—I'm flying," he said lamely.

"Told you so."

"I'm flying. I'm actually really flying." He began to move. He rose higher, then to the left and more to the left and he couldn't find the brakes and more the left and he banged into the wall and slid down to the floor.

"You okay?" asked Kori, running over to his side.

He held his head cautiously in his hands. "It's not as easy as it looks."

…

Halle picked up martial arts with a good speed. She had been on a gymnastic team for many years when she was younger and still retained much of her reflexivity, balance, and skills she had gained from it. However, she was not so good at controlling her strength.

"OW!" Halle cradled her hand in the other. "How thick is that board?" she questioned, nursing her bruised knuckles.

"As thick as the one you punched through with ease last week," replied her father.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Then why isn't it breaking?"

"Hmm." Dick rubbed his chin in thought. "I had assumed that your strength was an inherit ability, like your mom's. That you had it all the time and would have to learn to tone it down, but…I guess, if that you're the case you would have exhibited from birth and it wouldn't have developed later in life…"

"What are talking about?"

"Your super strength is a power like Alex's starbolts or flight. It's something you can turn on and off. But you have to learn how."

"How am I going to do that?"

"We'll think of something."

…

Diner was a quite affair, because Alex and Halle were too exhausted from school and training to do anything other than focus on bringing their fork from their plate to their mouths. Dick and Kori had something else planned.

"God, I'm going to up to bed and sleep for like, 10 hours."

"Me too," grumbled Alex. The twins began to push away from the table to get up.

"Wait a minute," said their father.

"What?" the twins said in unison, sitting back down.

"We need to have a family meeting," said Kori.

"A what?"

"You know, an open forum to discuss issues in a judgment free environment."

"Yeah, I've heard of the concept," Halle said sharply.

"We think that you two could benefit from more diverse training methods."

"Meaning?"

"Starting tomorrow I'm going to teach Alex some marital arts and your mother is going to teach, you Halle, to control your strength."

"But—"

"No buts, this is for your own good."

Halle and Alex shared a disgruntled glance. Although they were often on opposing sides, they were united in the horror of having to be alone and personal for prolonged periods of time with the parent they had they had, to put it kindly, 'issues' with.

* * *

Aki- I've got a real clever idea, it involves you, the readers, going and clicking that little purple/blue button that says go and giving me a review. Isn't it novel? See, because people generally judge stories (or at least I do) by how many reviews they have per chapter. And I only have seventeen for seven chapters total, which is lame. So, please, please, please review! 


	9. Arguments and Debates

**Aki: **Wow, a lot has happened since my last update. I turned 18, I'm on spring break, I saw a performance of Macbeth that was awesome and used a liberal amount of ake blood in its staging. I'll be going to Disney World for the first time in a few days so I don't know the next time I will be able to update. I know I once said in a a/n thatI would update once a week, but I'm going to change that to once every other week. That's all I have time for.

Also, I have some references to Judo in this chapter. My details may not be exactly right, but I didn't just make up crap. 

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**Chapter 9: Arguments and Debates**

"You're late," said Dick as he son entered the gym.

Alex mumbled incoherently. 

"What was that?" 

"Nothing,…just Mom used to show up late for our training too."

"I'm always on time."

"I _know._" Alex had heard the importance of being on time speech too many times already. 

"Ready to start?"

"Sure," said Alex in a lack-luster tone. 

"Um," said Dick, unusually flustered around his rather curt and untalkative son, "I'd thought we'd start with the basics, stances and forms and stuff and then focus on the moves and forms that work best with your physical ability and powers…"

"Sounds good," Alex deadpanned. 

"By the way, how has flying been going?" Alex knew his father was probably just curious, but he felt as if the man was goading him. Alex still hadn't gotten a handle on it. He had gotten up a few more times in the air, but had failed to direct himself properly. Luckily, his work with starbolts was progressing at a better pace. He was aiming really well, he personally thought it was a result of the abundant amount of video and computer games he had played throughout his youth, and his starbolts were strengthening in power, although no where near as powerful as he had seen his mother perform. He had shattered a wooden target, at his highest moment, but she turned one into dust, and that was holding back. 

Dick began to instruct Alex on how to stand and exactly where his arms should be for several defensive positions. Dick often corrected his son's body positions by mere halves of inches. Alex didn't saw a word, but his jaw would tense slightly at his gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. 

After a little over an hour of learning varies self-defense techniques from a style of Judo Dick thought was suiting for Alex's abilities, whether that was his superpowers or extreme lack of muscle mass and strength downright, Alex wasn't sure, he started firing out a bunch of Asian terms that where the words for the moves. Alex wasn't exactly sure which country Judo was from, so he didn't want to assume and look like an idiot, but the terms sounded Japanese. 

The first time Dick went through the forms in order, slowly, often fixing Alex's placement or reminding him when his son forgot. 

"Ready for those faster?" Sick asked.

"Not really," Alex muttered under his breath. He wasn't sure if his father heard, but the man acted as if he hadn't. 

Dick went through the terms again. Alex only got reprimands for two, one where he didn't have his arm at the right level, like his dad had explicitly corrected only moments before, and the second he just flat out forgot. 

His father had this look on his face that Alex was familiar with. It was the expression Dick had when Alex had quite little league half way through the season, when Alex got suspended the first time in middle school for hacking into the hated gym-teachers laptop to try and plant controversial material on it that would result in the man being fired, the look on his face just weeks ago now, when his father tried to speak with him about his latest suspension and was sneered away. Alex knew that look all too well. 

"I'm going to throw them at your even faster this time…and mix them up."

"Joy," said Alex, rolling his eyes, being as sarcastic as he could. He knew his father heard that, but again, the man did not respond. He was like a robot or something. 

"Naname-uchi…ryote-dori…gammen-tsuki, no, wrong!"  
Alex let his arms fall down to his side in frustration. 

"Go on," said Dick, with a slight nod. "Figure it out."

Alex glared but after a moment tentatively took another pose and was readying to through a mock hit in the air when— "Wrong."

"Why don't you just tell me what it is?" said Alex angrily, rounding on his father.

"If I tell you, you won't learn," Dick replied smugly, as if had just played the trump card. 

"Well, I obviously I haven't learned it yet!"

"You're not trying," Dick returned, his voice raised.

"I am trying!" Alex shouted even louder, and indignant.

"No, you're to busy glaring at me and making sarcastic comments under your breath to try. Halle—"

"In case you didn't notice, I'm not Halle. Sorry, I can't be your perfect athletic son—"

"I don't need you to be," Dick interrupted. "All I want is for you to try!"  
"I _am_ trying, but I'm not good at this!"

"But it's not that complicated." 

"Maybe not for you, wonder boy, or whatever the hell they called you. But I'm not you and I don't want to be! I'm out."

"Alexander…" Dick called after him, but he was cut off with the gym door slamming shut behind his storming son. "Well," he said, running his hand through his hair uneasily. "That didn't go well."

"Oh, are you guys done early?"

Dick looked up from his seat on the gym floor. He shook his head 'no.' "Alex stormed out on me."

"Why?"

"He was mad."

"Why was he mad?"  
"I don't know! He just got upset all the sudden and we started yelling and…and…you're gonna yell at me too now aren't you?" 

Kori huffed, her hand placed on her hip in an imposing manner. "You're the parent. If he's mad you gotta figure out why and fix it."

"But…can't you figure it out for me?" Dick asked hopefully. Halle he got, Alex, not so much. Kori gave her husband a stern look. "Okay, okay, I'll go talk to him…" Dick got up from the floor and dragged his feet to the door like a stubborn child refusing to submit to his bedtime. 

"I'm here," said Halle, arriving a few minutes later, sounding none too enthused. 

"Oh—alright—"

"But I don't see the point to this. I was doing fine with just Dad.But I guess the sooner I learn to 'control my strength,'" said Halle with irritation, rolling her eyes over those three words, "The sooner I can get back to martial arts. So let's get on with it."

"Aa…," Kori floundered for words after that pronouncement. "Aaa, yes, I suppose the faster I learn you—I mean, I_ teach_ you, then the faster you can go back to training with your father."

"Exactly my point," Halle conceded without interest in her mother's repronouncement of what Halle had just said.

"Well, first you must understand that a Tameranian's power is largely controlled by their emotions."

"Like Alex has to be pissed off to use his bolty-thingie's."

"No, he has to feel righteous fury."

"Same difference."

Kori gave Halle a strange look. Halle wasn't sure if it was because her mother disagreed or because she didn't know what that euphemism meant.

"Our strength of superness…super strength is brought out with confidence. Boundless confidence."

"So you're saying I just have to _believe_ that I can do it?" asked Halle, eyebrows raised. "And you couldn't have just told me this?"

"I wanted you to have practice time."

"I could have practiced by myself," muttered to herself, but with intention for her mother to hear. Kori's face dropped. Halle could so easily batter her down.

"Halle," tried Kori desperately. "Can we just try it a few times together? I know it sounds simple, but…even I, who has had this strength since the birth of myself still have problems when I lose my own confidence of self."

"Okay, whatever. I'll do it."

Kori gave a small, apprehensive smile that Halle did not return. Kori picked up a short plank of wood, holding it at an arms length. "Break it."

"Punch or kick?"

"I don't care. Prepare yourself. Believe you can do it. Feel your own strength inside yourself."

Halle readied herself, face set, and struck. She ended up with a throbbing hand. Her mother was not even fazed nor did she move from the force of the hit. A second later Halle took a kick at the board, again it did not break.

"You can do it," Kori cheered.

"I know." Halle's face screwed up in concentration. She tightened her fist into a ball and struck the board dead center. Nothing.

"Stop thinking so much," Kori remanded. Halle could think of so many 'not thinking, like you' jokes to jib at her mom's light-headedness that she thought her brain might explode. But Halle had to admit, for all of her mother's vices of forgetfulness and clumsiness and general weirdness, Halle was impressed when she learned about her mom's superhero alter-ego. And for all of her vices, her mom could use her super strength and Halle could not. But she should. She could. She will.

Halle didn't even remember making a move. Her body must have reacted on instinct, but before her was a plank of wood, shattered into two and her mom stumbling back a few steps at the strength of the strike.

"You did it! Glorious!"

"I—I did it," Halle repeated.

"Can you do it again?" asked Kori with a grin, holding another board. It took Halle three tries to break it, perhaps because the shock of he first victory had distracted her. The next board took two tries and soon she broke the remainder of the boards in one or two attempts, as long she left her consciousness slip into that little area where, instead of forcing herself to _think_ she could do it, she simply _believed_ that she could. 

He knocked on Alex's bedroom door and received a grunt in response. Dick took it as, "come in." He opened the door to see Alex pounding furiously away on his keyboard. 

"Careful, your gonna break that," said Dick, the slightest edge of a joke on his tone.

"It's catharsis," Alex muttered in response. "…What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you," said Dick, sitting on the edge of his son's bed.

Alex swiveled in his chair to give his father an unperturbed stare. "Can't say that feeling is mutual."

"Alexander." His tone was warning,

Ales rolled his eyes. "That stopped working on me when I was like ten." 

"Look," said Dick, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I want to say sorry."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "For what?"

"For upsetting you earlier."

"No good," said Alex, swiveling back to face his computer.

Dick sighed a loud and exasperated sigh. "What do you mean 'no good'?"

"I mean that," said Alex, not even turning to face his father as he spoke, "Me getting upset was not the problem…it was the result."

"Result? Result of what…oh."

"Finally pieced it together, did you?"

"I know we don't have the best relationship—"

"Duh. You expect me to be like your perfect first-born, Halle."

"You guys are twins"

"Trying telling _her_ that."  
"Is that really what you think? Do you really think that I believe Halle's perfect, and you're not?"

Alex stopped typing. His head bowed a little bit. He felt his father's gaze on the back of his neck.

"You do, don't you? That's how it is. You said it yourself. Wrong. Wrong. You're not trying. Why can't you do it, Halle can…"

"Oh…oh my, I never meant to…I can't believe that I did that too…" Alex was forced to turn to see his father sounding so remorseful and…he couldn't describe it…

"Did what too?" asked Alex with baited breath, watching his father look up from where he had been tiredly rubbing his brow with his hands.

"I know what it's like to never think you'll be good enough because of expectations someone holds you up to."

"Who?...you mean Uncle Bruce?"

"More Batman than Bruce…if it is possible to separate the two…Alex, I really need to apologize."

"You're a smart kid. I know you are and I want you to know that I am proud of you for that. I haven't told you that often. I guess I just assumed that if you pick up all this crazy computer stuff so fast that you could get the athletic stuff that fast too. I was wrong."

"You were," Alex bit in response. Finally his dad was admitting his faults. "But…why don't we try again tomorrow. Alright?"

Dick stood and ruffled Alex's hair, earning him a glare. "You're a good kid…Is that Yale?" he asked as he caught a glimpse of the computer screen. "Did you hack into Yale's mainframe?"

"Dad, the Ivy League is child's play…want to enroll?"

"You can hack into Yale but you can't remember a few Judo moves…"

"Dad!"

"I'm kidding…a little bit."

"Um…Mom?"

"Yes?" Halle and Kori were cleaning up the pieces of splintered wood off the gym floor together.

"I was kinda wondering …why do you talk weird the way you do…?"

"I know I mess words up sometimes. I have had to be very careful since I started living as Kori rather than Starfire…"

"That's not an answer to my question," Halle pointed out.

"I know. But it's funny. When I first came to earth I never used to realize how strangely I spoke. Only when I didn't understand things or mixed them up and lead to very embarrassing situations…not for me, usually for your father…"

Halle chuckled. "Yeah, but how come it hasn't gotten better after all these years. Shouldn't you have picked it up better?"

"I didn't learn English the ways an earthling would learn a…um…foreign language."

"How did you learn it?" asked Halle, strangely curious.

"Well, Tameranians can transmit knowledge through lip contact…"

"Like kissing?!" 

Kori nodded.

"Wow, I should start making out with smart guys. Maybe chemistry would get easier…Jeez, I really want _that_ power."

"Really?"

"Yeah...it's cool."

"…That's also the story between mine and your dad's first kiss…"

"Nu—uh!"

Although genetics had failed to pass on his father's shape-shifting abilities, Kaden was still blessed with animal-like sensitive hearing. That is how he could clearly hear his parent's hushed debate in the kitchen while he sat behind his closed bedroom door. 

"We've been through this before. He's too young."

"No, he's not."

"He just turned fifteen."

"So were we. I was in the superhero business years younger than that," Gar protested lightly. 

"It's different."

"How?"

"It just is…He's my son…your son. It's too dangerous," reasoned Raven.

"But if he's with us."

"It will still be dangerous."

"What if we take him on the easy ones to start?"

"Easy ones? There is no 'easy ones.' Even a first time mugger with knife can be deadly."

"I know, Rae, I do. I really do. But the more we try to keep him out, the more he wants to get in. It would be better if he was with us than running out on his own." 

'Good point,' conceded Kaden in his head. Maybe this would make Mom see reason. 

"Even if he is as old as we were…," said Raven. "He can barely control his powers."

Kaden winced. 'Barely control,' was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. Kaden would have preferred 'challenged with his powers.'

"…That's true, but...we can't hold him out much longer."

"He's not ready."

"He's not or you're not?"

* * *

Reviews=Happiness of authoress=Surge of inspiration=Faster updates 


	10. Sparring

Chapter 10: Sparing

**Chapter 10: Sparing**

Flashes of blue and red bounced off the walls as sirens filled the street. He sunk down the alleyway, away from the light and sound and amassing crowd. The police has the thieves in custody and were not about to ask questions to as how. The nighttime rain pounded down on him.

He followed long ago memorized steps to a basement apartment in one of the slums of the city. Packed in the small room was some of the most high tech equipment in the modern world. He needed it for security and maintenance. Sure, life wasn't like the glory and fame and supervillains in the old days, but even the people of the inner city needed a silent protector from the criminals that antagonized them.

Sure there had been other offers, other teams, but he had had enough of teams. He started out alone, he could finish alone. Cyborg listened as the rain pounded on the street outside.

…

"OW!"

"Are you okay?"

Alex waved his worried mother off as he pushed himself tenderly to his feet.

"So that's, um, 5-0 for Halle…maybe we should take a break," said Dick. Halle shrugged her shoulders and went to get a water bottle. Alex limped to the side of the room and sat on bench along the wall in the gym.

"Perhaps it was a little early to have them fight each other," Dick suggested in a whisper to his wife.

Kori nodded nervously, her hands clasped in front of her in a praying position. Having anyone attack one of her children, even if it was her other child, was too much for her nerves.

Dick walked over to Halle as Kori approached her son uneasily.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Alex bitterly.

"You know, if you want to stop now, just say something—"

"No!" Alex snapped. "I've got to beat Halle once…or at least get a hit on her…"

"Uh, Halle," said Dick, speaking to his daughter at the opposite side of the room.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think, maybe, you should ease off of your brother a bit?"

Halle rolled her eyes as she retied the laces of her sneakers. "If his guard is _that_ bad, he deserves to be whomped."

"But," said Dick, "He's taken a pretty bad beating. It's a miracle he got up after the first hit. Maybe you shouldn't hit so hard."

"Look," said Halle, standing straight and clenching a fist. "My strength either comes in 'on' or 'off.' Theirs no degrees…And why shouldn't I do the best I can?"

"You should!" Dick defended, "But…with same move every time…that's a blow to his pride."

Halle smirked. "He should have learned to block it after five times…"

"Halle," Dick said sternly.

"Okay, okay," she conceded. "I'm not saying I'll let him win, but I'll give him a chance."

"Thank you."

"He's ready," called Kori from across the room. Both father and daughter turned to look. Kori was watching her son warily where he was standing in the center of the room, heavily favoring one leg, waiting for the next sparing match to begin.

Dick and Halle shared a glance before the teenage girl walked to her place. Dick stood back from the two, and putting a whistle in his mouth said, "Ready, set, tweet,"

Alex unconsciously flinched when the whistle blew. The last five times it meant he was quickly decimated by his sister's fist. She should name her fist, like in medieval times people named their swords like Excalibur or Sting or like, dragon-slayer. Expect her fist should be named Alex-decimator. However, Halle had yet to make a move.

Slowly, well, slower than before, she pulled back her right arm, the opposite than the one she had been favoring, and made a badly aimed, off-balanced punch towards Alex. He was able to dodge it so that it barely brushed by his sleeve. Halle resisted the urge to scoff; in her opinion, her brother should have been able to dodge it completely. Alex made and open-palmed attack, the heel of his hand hitting her shoulder. It made little impact.

Kori squealed and covered her eyes. Halle thought it was time to end it. She glanced at her father. She let her brother get contact, wasn't that enough? She made a swift move, dropping to a crouch on the floor, swinging her leg around and swiping Alex's legs out from under him. He landed soundly on his rump before Halle even had a stance to stand up properly.

Alex growled and Halle looked ready to gloat, her face shining. Kori was peaking through her fingers and Dick decided it was time to intercede. He took a place between the two. "Okay. I think that is enough for today. Good job."

"For some of us," Halle whispered smugly, loud enough for all to hear.

"For both of you," Dick said with a little glare. Halle seemed unaffected. "Come on now. You two clean up and then will have some dinner."

The parent left the gym, leaving the set of twins to their own devices as they collected their few possession, water bottles, warm-ups, and the such.

Halle snorted suddenly. Alex glared at the back of her head.

"What do you mean by that?" Alex demanded.

"Nothing, nothing," Halle said with the height of sarcasm in her tone, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "I was just thinking how embarrassing it must be for you to be beat up by your sister."

Alex sputtered. "You—you did not beat me up. You just knocked me over a few times is all. Plus! You have super strength. That's not fair!"

"You have flight _and_ star bolts. How is it not fair?"

"Ah…well it's not!"

"Doesn't matter. I won according to the rules," said Halle smugly.

"Yeah, in a game where you knew I was coming and was prepared. A real enemy would take you by surprise."

"Your point, poindexter?"

"My point is that the enemy taking you by surprise is going to be me. Every shadow on the wall, the monsters under your bed, the wind running through the trees, it might be me. You'll never be able to rest, to relax, to put your guard down, knowing that I am watching you from the corner of the room. I'll get you…"  
"Where do you get this stuff?"

"Watch out…"

…

Raven rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands wearily.

"Come on, Rae," said Gar, gently pulling his wife's hands away from her eyes. "You need to take a break."

"No, they're out there somewhere and we need to find them."

"I know," implored Gar. "But you're no good half dead. When's the last time you slept?"  
"I'm not tired," Raven tried to argue, but she was interrupted by a large yawn. Gar raised his eyebrows, his point proven.

"Go take a nap. You didn't sleep all last night or today."

"But—"

"I'll look over it. We'll find them. We'll stop them. I promise."

Raven cocked her head a little bit, but said in submission. "You can't promise something like that."

"Yes," said Gar, taking his wife's hand and kissing her fingers. "I can."

They shared a silent moment. Green eyes meeting purple. Those were colors that were generally not associated with each other. Colors that weren't what the fashion world had in mind as the next big mix. Raven guessed her and Gar just defied conventions.

"Now get to bed, you," said Gar, with a teasing tone, pulling his wife up from her chair and giving her a gentle shove towards the bedroom. "Sometimes fresh eyes see stuff tired ones missed."

"We've been after them for months," said Raven from the doorway of their shared bedroom. "They've lead us on quite a chase around the world, but here we are, settled in Gotham for the longest time since we've been on the Strike's tail."

"Maybe they got tired of running," Gar tried to joke with a small smile.

His wife looked uneasy, her lips tightening into a worried frown. "Beast Boy and Raven in the same city as Robin and Starfire. It's too coincidental."

"Come on, Rae, you're sounding like Robin now. Don't get so worked up on it. I promised you we'd find them."

"I'm beginning to think we're only going to find them when they want us to."

…

He shifted in the shadows…watching…waiting. His prey would be coming soon. Oh, and how proud they'd all be at his victory for the cause. He reveled in the thought for a long moment. Finally some respect from the higher ups.

Footsteps broke the preparing attacker from his daydreams. He bounced silently on the balls of his feet in anticipation, flexing his fingers in readiness. The footsteps were growing closer. It was her. He had watched her too long not to recognize her padding feet on the ground.

A glimpse of red hair rounded the corner and he sprung with a wild yell, launching himself at his victim.

Halle screamed in surprise, jumped out of the war path, grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and threw her attacker onto the carpeted hallway floor.

He grunted, the wind being knocked out of his gut.

"Jeez, Alex," said Halle, clutching her heart. "What the hell?...oh, was this supposed to be your great revenge…hiding in the shadows and all that crap?"

Alex muttered incoherently into the carpet, too worn to even attempt lifting his head to speak.

"I'm going to bed, loser. I suggest you do the same. School tomorrow and all."

…

"Madam…the forces are ready. Tomorrow they attack."

"Good," cooed a voice from a woman sitting in a chair in the far reaches of the haunt.

"But," said an anxious, young recruit, once valued for his skill with twisting the minds of others, but not particularly valued for brute strength. "What about the other one. The metal one."

"She already explained to you," snapped another man standing up by the woman's throne. "Once his friends are out of the way, that loner will be easy target. He's long ago alienated himself from all forms of aid from other capes."

"But if we attacked all of them at once then—"

"We can't afford to split up our forces that much! These are superheroes we are dealing with!"

"But—"

"Silence!" the woman interrupted. "There is no time for petty arguments. The plan is in motion…tomorrow…we're going to strike.


	11. Coming Home To Disaster

Chapter 11: Coming Home To Disaster

**Aki­- **Yes, I know this chapter is very much delayed. I only have one excuse, and that is being a senior in their last weeks of school trying to finish every project and paper. And I was in a major Lord of the Rings kick recently and still. So I guess that is two excuses. Oh, I love LotR so much! It's just awesome.

**Chapter 11: Coming Home To Disaster **

Alex wasn't sure what woke him at two o'clock in the morning, but he did discern footsteps and a soft creaking in the hallway beyond his bedroom door. He got, begrudgingly, out of bed to investigate. He only opened his door in time to see the china cabinet moving slowly as it closed a gap in the wall.

"Wha?" Alex glanced down the hallway and saw his sister's door open. He went a peered around it to see his sister's bed was empty. Alex tiptoed over to the china cabinet and carefully opened one of its glass pained doors and reached to a rose painted vase that was the lever for the concealed door to open. Alex had taken the time on their first return journey from their parent's secret liar, as he called it, to find out how to return. Halle, apparently, had done the same.

Alex scurried down the twisted passageway with a weird little hop, cursing the cold floor against the sockless feet. Soon he found himself at the doorway to the round, secret room that Halle and himself had first discovered their parents', well, secrets.

"What are you doing?" he asked without an introduction, walking over to where Halle was sitting at one of the computer desks.

"Hi, Alex," she replied without looking at him. Her tone was strangely morose.

He peered over her shoulder. "You're looking at that again?"

Hall ran her fingers over the edge of one of Kori's old scrapbook pages before she gently turned it. "We didn't see it all before."

"So? We saw enough. We found out the truth."

"Yeah, but only the barest sketches of it."

"Wha?"

Halle turned in her set to look up at her brother. "You think you know your parents. They've been their since the beginning and they've always been there. And you put them and everything they are into this little box and tie on the lid, who they are, their personality, their relationship with you, every little thing they do that annoys you, and how they are always going to be their to annoy you for the rest of your life. But you forget all about who they _were_, before you.

"Sometimes, sure, we ask questions, all little kids do. How did mommy and daddy fall in love? Or they forcefully share an anecdote from their youth to try to teach you a moral….but there is so much more we don't know, no one knows, about their parents. Especially when they hide everything they had been from you….God, I'm not making any sense," said Halle, burying her face in her hands.

"You're right, you're not…now as you told me so kindly earlier. We have school tomorrow, well, I guess today by now, so you better get to bed, loser."

Halle yawned and then glared at Alex as though her sudden weariness was his fault. She got up silently and exited the room, Alex's eyes following her as she disappeared into the darkened passage.

He stood over the book that Halle left open. He touched the photograph on the page, one of all the titans smiling and waving at the camera. It fell loose from page. He gently picked it up and held it for closer inspection. He slipped the photograph into his pocket and gently closed the scrapbook before following his long departed sister up the passageway, thinking she was a psycho.

…

School was a miserable affair for both Halle and Alex the next day. Alex was still recuperating from his numerous beatings at the hands of his elder sister as every move he made ached down to his bones. Halle, on the other hand, felt exactly nothing from yesterday's sparring matches, but was suffering from lack of sleep. She had to use an extreme force of will to keep from nodding off in nearly every class of the day.

Halle and Alex ate lunch silently together. People gave up on thinking it was weird that the two twins who could hardly stand to be in each others presences a few precious weeks ago suddenly seemed joined at the hip. Alex and Halle we're so wrapped up in superhero parents and superpowers and training to remember or care what their school social lives had once been like.

Not that Alex had had a social life, so really not much had changed for him expect the absence of all bullies, who were either terrified out of their wits because of the rumors going around that he possessed some sort of evil magic or that now that Halle was paying attention to her little brother they didn't want to damage their chances with her, which was probably more likely.

School ended, eventually. And never had the two been more thankful for it. Alex climbed into the passenger seat of Halle's car, still upset he had get to gain a license. It was a short, silent drive.

The driveway gates opened automatically as they drove through into the open courtyard and parking circle in front of their grandeur home. Backpacks laden with heavy books for weekend homework bore on their backs as the twins walked up front steps to their house, complaining about all the projects and papers they had to complete. But something strange silenced them.

"That's door's open," said Alex, pushing the door with his fingertips, causing it to creak from where he had been millimeters from closed to a few inch crack between the doorpost and the door.

"Probably Mom being forgetful," Halle shrugged.

"No, Dad would have…"

"Dad's not home yet—" Halle cut him off.

"Yeah, he is. He always comes home early on Fridays, how long have you lived here?"

Halle scoffed and then said defensively. "I'm usually don't come home straight away on Fridays, but ever since this whole superhero business my social life had been severely dampened."

"Whatever…" Alex pushed through the doorway with his elbow into the entrance hall, Halle two steps behind him.

"Oh my God!"

The sight that met their eyes was…terrible. It wasn't just the feathers torn from the throw pillows, the toppled furniture, or artwork and relics that were broken, laying on the floor rather than in their rightful shelf-space. No, it was everything those things, and the rest of the mess and destruction, implied. Alex shuffled a few more steps into the sitting room, a shocked, wide-eyes expression on his face, his shoes crackling on glass from a broken picture frame.

Halle was clutching his upper arm tightly, a step behind him.

"What happened here?" she asked in a ghost of a whisper, gently reached out and touching her fingertips to a scorch mark on the nearby wall.

Alex didn't answer her, but continued to advance into the room, now that her restrain of her grip was gone.

"Mom!" he yelled. "Mom!...Dad!" He rushed into the formal dining room adjacent to the sitting room by a doorway on the left wall. Then to the kitchen. Then to the family room, then back to the entrance hall and sitting room where Halle still stood, shouting for his parents. Chaos had filled those rooms to.

"Come on," he said, grabbing Halle's hand and dragging her up the staircase, where frames hung lopsided on their nails if they were lucky. The destruction overflowed through most of the house, the upstairs hallway included.

"Mom! Dad!...Please!" screamed Alex, pulling one door, whether to bedroom or closet, open after the other in a desperate, hysterical search.

"Alex, stop it," said Halle, tears brimming in her eyes, making a grab as Alex's arm as he passed in a second search when the first one availed nothing. He was stilled, but struggling for release unsuccessfully in her super strength hold on him.

"We need to find them."

"Stop it, Alex. They're not here…" her breath hitched and her tears ran over. "They're gone…"

"No!...no…"

"We just have to calm and figure out what to do…" reasoned Halle, although her voice was shaking her and tear were still pouring over her cheeks and she seemed to be getting less calm by the minute.

The sight of his sister breaking down broke Alex from his urge to continue with his crazed search. "Halle?"

And she broke, sobs erupting from her entire body. He pulled her against himself and held her in a comforting embrace as she cried, the situation too dire for him to feel awkward about it.

…

"School sucked _so much_," Kaden announced as he pushed open his apartment door. He got no response, not vehement agreement from him father or a sarcastic comment from his mother. In fact, what was before his eyes was very unwelcome.

He had seen scenes like this before. With his parents flitting all over the world after crime he had witnessed his fair share of what the aftermath of attacks and destructions looked like despite how much his mother tried to shelter him from it.

Black energy sparkled between his fingertips in anger and fear. He waited patiently at the open doorway, straining his ears, listening for any hint of remaining threats. He walked cautiously into the havoc that had once been his home.

"Hello?"

No answer.

He continued cautiously, pushing open the bathroom door, the closest, and peering around the doorframe into it. Empty. He did the same with the remainder of the small four room apartment. All were empty. Any criminals worthy of such acts were long gone.

And so were his parents. Kaden bit his lip as a wave of agonizing misery washed over him with the realization. He knew from the moment no reply came, but it hadn't hit him until now. Without thought or conscious decision, black energy disrupted the already battle-torn living room, with a whirlwind of blackened objects flying through the air.

Kaden gasped and fell to his knees, desperately trying to control his emotions before they tore the apartment or himself apart. Slowly the twister of flying, energy-encased objects slowed and dropped to the floor around him.

What to do? What to do? Kaden wiped wetness at the corner of his eyes away. He suddenly understood why his mother would never allow him to join her and his father's superhero escapades…losing family was just too hard to deal with.

…

"It's not opening."

"You just figured that out, Einstein!"

"You know, Alex, you're not being very helpful."

"It's broken. It's not going to open!"

Halle sighed exasperatedly. After deciding not to call the police, because that meant Halle and Alex would not be allowed to help find their parents and would probably be left in the dark, (and they couldn't very well tell the police their parents were superheroes and they had been taken down by supervillains, 'cause who else could?) they determined the next plan of action would to be to go to the safety and helpfulness of the secret lair, but the china cabinet door had been damaged in the fighting that had ensued in the upper hallway.

Halle had successfully pulled away the damaged cabinet to reveal the steal door behind, but beyond that neither twin had an idea how to proceed, and thus tempers were raging high.

"Whatever, strand back," said Alex, taking aim, a blue orb crackling around his fist.

"No!" Halle shouted, but not before Alex had fired. The starbolt bounced off the door came right back at Alex, who was tackled to the floor just in time by his sister.

"Idiot! Don't you think our parents who have made that door superpower proof as much as they could? Don't you think I could have pulled it off the hinges with the cabinet if it weren't?"

"Well, thanks for the heads up."

"Shut up."

"I will not—"

"Shut up. I think I hear something. Someone."

Indeed, when Alex stopped fuming he too heard what sounded like footsteps shuffling around the floor below. Then the footsteps started coming up the stairs.

Halle and Alex quickly and silently stood, reading themselves for an attack, something they had been training for.

Halle bounced on the balls of her feet and Alex flexed his fingers anxiously, both barely containing the urge to run screaming at the intruder and beat them into telling what happened to their parents, but a surprise attack would work better than revealing themselves to an unknown threat.

The stranger paused a moment at the top of the steps before rounding the corner to where the twins where. Alex's starbolt flew before Halle could even move.

The intruder yelped and with the wave of his hands a translucent black shield appeared in the air. When the starbolt hit it, both disintegrated with a little flash of light.

Halle made her move, running at the intruder with a yell.

"Wait, wait, wait," the intruder, a boy, said in quick succession, covering his face with his arms. "It's me," he squeaked. Kaden. Remember me?" He took a chance to look over his arms to see Halle's fist stopped a few inches before his face, a weird expression of dawning remembrance on her face.

"The weird kid we drove home who Halle has a crush on?" asked Alex from halfway down the hallway.

"Hey," said Halle and Kaden simultaneously. Kaden for the weird kid part. Halle for the crush part.


	12. Help Wanted

Chapter 12: Help Wanted

**Chapter 12: Help Wanted**

"What are you doing here?" asked Halle, lowering her threatening fist.

Kaden failed to answer, instead his eyes wandered over the mess that filled the hallway. "So…are your parents gone?"

"What would know about it?" Halle demanded sharply.

"Mine…mine are too," explained Kaden softly, in a strangely emotionless tone. "They were titans too, um, Beast Boy and Raven. Y'know. The green one and the scary chick."

Alex touched the outside of his pocket, thinking of the photograph he stored there since the night before.

"So, you meeting us was quite a coincidence," commented Halle.

"No, that was no accident. I—I kinda made sure we ran into each other. I just had to meet the kids of Robin and Starfire."

"But why—"

"More to the problems at hand," Alex interrupted, "You said your parents are gone too?"

"Much to a scene like this. Home destroyed. Parents missing. No sign to where they might be except…"

"Except?" Halle prodded with urgency and interest.

Kaden pulled a satchel that had hung around the back of him to his front. "Do you have somewhere we can sit down, it's a long story."

"We were trying to get into—ah—," said Halle, waving her hand behind her vaguely at the steel door placed into the far wall. "I don't what to call it. It leads to like, a secret room with gadgets and our parents superhero stuff. We thought we'd be safe in there, but it's broken and impervious to superpowers…" Halle drifted off, realizing her ramblings and that Kaden wasn't paying attention to her, but had wandered over to the door and was inspecting it, the twins now silently watching him.

Kaden rested his hand on the door about waist height, closed his eyes, and bit his bottom lip as though in deep thought.

"What are you—?" started to ask Alex, but he shut up instantly an indescribable black sort of stuff, very much like the "shield" Kaden had conjured moments ago, consumed the boys hand and the small spot on the door he touched. And a moment later Kaden's hand had disappeared just past the wrist into the door and the black energy and a moment after that the door clicked open, Kaden withdrew his hand, and the black energy disappeared.

"How did you—," started Alex before suddenly cutting off, shaking his head and saying, "Never mind, stupid question."

Together the three pushed the steel door open, although it would have been easily to just let Halle do it.

"Come on." Alex led the other two down the twisting hallway that became darker the further they went.

"This place is creepy," Kaden commented just above a whisper, his voice reverberating strangely against the cold stone walls. Neither of the twins replied. However, when they reached the chamber below and the lights were turned on, Kaden gaped, marveling at the technology and the collection of Teen Titans memorabilia hung on the walls and sitting in glass display cases.

"You said you had information?" Halle interrupted the younger teen's gawking.

Kaden sat himself down on a metal chair, pulling his satchel off his shoulder and plopping it onto the chrome table in front of him. He ripped open the Velcro flap and pulled out a stack of papers.

"What are they?" asked Alex.

"They're information," said Kaden, sifting through the unorganized pile. "I was lucky to salvage them from my apartment, wrecked as it was. See…my parents never gave up being superheroes. They really couldn't. They looked too different to hide…, but that's not the point. They've been tracking this group called "The Strike." It's a hard group to peg; they've been involved in high profile murders, thefts, arson, terrorist activities…all kinds of shit. Their only m.o. is that they leave a mark of two crossing, black lightening bolts on their crimes scenes." He pushed a photograph of the image in front of them.

"We didn't see—" started Alex, but Halle interrupted him.

"That's what that scrouch mark was. I thought it was weirdly shaped…it's just, I was too, well dazed to figure it out."

"It was at my home too. My parents have always been one step behind the Strike for over a year now. Always. Never even catching sight of them, only finding their aftermath. Until..."

"Until…?"

"Gotham. They thought they had finally caught up with them…but it was a trap."

"A trap?"

"They got your parents and mine. Separate, but in the same damn city. They had to planning for so long. No regular criminal could take down my parents. They're experts at being superheroes…this…they weren't…" Kaden chocked off his words and hide his face by titling it down against his chest in a unique display of emotions.

The twins shared a glance as Kaden recomposed himself. It was a loaded look, with the wondering whether or not they should trust him. He held in his possession their only lead and it was pretty plausible at the moment. Plus, he was the child of the other Titans, his powers and appearance very much proving it. It didn't seem they had reason not to trust him. Alex nodded.

"So what do we do from here?" asked Halle.

Kaden looked up at the twins, looking elated and relieved. "Thank God. I thought you were going to kick me out…And I have an idea."

…

It had been a trying day. He had foiled a bank robbery, evacuated apartment that caught on fire, and stop a school bus that's breaks had failed from careening into a busy intersection. A tiring day indeed, but it was worth it…keeping people safe, one day at a time. Although, he had to sadly admit as he slipped from a back alley into his basement apartment decked out in the most advanced technology to both monitor and city and for personal maintenance, that he couldn't save everyone.

A few months back there had been some very…strange attacks. Neither the police nor Cyborg were able to catch the villains responsible, no, they never even caught sight of them. There had been arson and violent theft. People died. It was horrible. All that was left behind that even linked the scenes of mayhem was a symbol of two lightening bolts, crossing each other to form a jagged 'X'. And then….they stopped. Rumors drifted that similar attacks had been occurring in the neighboring city. Cyborg had had half a mind to follow them, to track them…but his other half told him to stay and protect the city he had sworn to protect.

Cyborg sighed as he checked the energy gage in his arm. He was still at half-charged, despite the trying day, thanks to the new equipment he had been continuing to develop for self-improvement and maintenance. Not playing video games or eating pizza in his free time gave him for time to actually work.

"Okay, I'll monitor the city, heaven forbid anything else nearly catastrophic happen today, before I boot down for the night," said Cyborg aloud, although no one was around to hear. No one had been around to hear it for a long time now.

Sitting down, Cyborg hooked up a thick, metal-plated wire from his shoulder into the chrome desk, allowing him to not even have to use a keyboard, but just will the computer's actions. Monitors around him instantly flashed to life with scenes from the city being played out on them.

Everything was undisturbed for a while, in fact, Cyborg's human part was fighting the urge to drift off to sleep…but then…Well, he felt it before any physical signs were visible, drifting through his robotic body. If he had been more conscious he might have been able to stop it. It traveled through his circuits to the computer desk before he could pull the wire out. The screens went black. After a few moments of darkness and cursing, the main, center monitor lit up and was filled up with static.

"Victor Stone?" came a questioning voice.

"Who are you?" was Cyborg's biting reply.

"That doesn't matter now," said the voice quickly, Cyborg was surprised by how young the voice sounded. No average hacker could break through his defenses, but Cyborg was forced to remember how young Gizmo had been. "Just listen. You're in danger."

"Are you trying to threaten me?"

"No, warn you. There's this criminal group called 'The Strike'," the snowstorm screen was replaced by an image of two crossing lightening bolts.

"So that's what those punks call themselves!" said Cyborg aloud in instant recognition.

"You're familiar with them, then? Well, that makes things easier. We have reason to believe that they may be coming after you."

"What reasons? And whose 'we'?"

"Look, I can't get into that right now," said the voice, this time sounding more urgent, and a bit desperate. "If we meet in person, we can explain better…more."

Cyborg bit his lip before replying, "When? Where?"

"We'll find you." With that final statement the screens went black again. A few seconds later, images of the city flickered back onto the monitors. Cyborg fingers flew over the keyboard, attempting to track the hackers, but all trace was gone. If only he hadn't been distracted and tried to trace the signal while the kid was talking.

Only after a few moments' thoughts over the ominous words, the warning, information about 'the Strike', and the imminent meeting with informants unknown, did Cyborg realize how familiar, yet unidentifiable, the voice had sounded.

…

"So how exactly are we going to get to Cyborg. He's half way across the country?" asked Alex, leaning back his computer chair. "And why were you the only one allowed to talk during that interview?"

"And why didn't you tell him who we were?" added Halle. "Or what had happened to our parents?"

"Woe, woe…one question at a time please. I can only think so fast," complained Kaden. The twins shut up and looked at the boy expectantly. "Alex's questions first. You're rich kids. I figured you had a private jet or something...no?" The twins shook their heads to the negative. "Well we can still buy plan tickets and by we, I mean you two. If all else falls, hitchhiking, or we can commandeer a car or—"

"Okay, next question," Alex interrupted the younger teen's tirade.

"I know the most, so that's why I got to talk. I didn't tell him who were we because, would he have believed us anyway? And I didn't tell him about our parents because…well, I didn't want him to run off or avoid us. Either for self-protection or…"

"Or…?" prompted Halle.

"Something happened to the Titans. I don't know what; my parents never talk about it. They were a team. They were friends. Something happened and then they weren't anymore. They stopped talking to each other completely. What if he didn't care? What if he didn't want to help us because of some old resentment?…I wasn't willing to take that risk, not yet. We have a better chance convincing him face to face."

Halle and Alex were silent. They had only recently been familiarized with their parents' superhero pasts. They hadn't even thought why the Titans weren't Titans anymore.

Alex cleared his throat. "I'll get three tickets for the first flight out. Halle you go pack. Kaden, you…do something useful."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Kaden said sarcastically, his voicing echoing off the walls as he followed Halle up the twisting path to the main house. "It's not like it was my outrageously brilliant idea to us the old Titans communicator to track down Cyborg…nooo, not all."

…


	13. Searching and Striking

Chapter 13: Searching and Striking

**Chapter 13: Searching and Striking**

"Yes, Australia, the land down unda'. No I don't have the number of the hotel. The point of a vacation is to get away from responsibilities, not have some incompetent sycophant calling you up every few minutes. And our cell phones are gonna be out of range. Well, I'm sorry the CEO of Powers Tech is there to see my father but we're already on the plane and they don't just turn around. Oh…the flight attendant is telling me to get off the phone—"  
Alex nudged Halle's side with his elbow. "Oh, um," she cleared her throat and said in a stern voice. "Young man, you can't talk use a cell phone on a plane. Do you want us to crash?"

"See, were gonna crash. Gotta go. Don't call back." Alex snapped his cell phone closed and instantly turned it off. "The Grayson family is now officially gone of an impromptu vacation to Australia. No one will come looking for us or our parents for at least a week or two. Unless the go to the house, but then again they might think that was thieves or vandals, not an attack."

"Alex," said Halle. "That was pretty smart."

"I'm always pretty smart," said Alex, leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head."

"…no comment…and you, stop fidgeting."

Kaden cast Halle a sideways look. "Coach seriously. You're the kids of billionaires and the best you could get is coach?"

"You're just still upset that we don't have a private jet."

"A private jet, at least. You should have, like, a Titan plane or a Batjet or something!"

"Whatever…and anyway, shouldn't we be more concerned with our…plan of action once we land?"

"I've got us hotel reservation," Alex spoke up from Halle's other side. "It's not the Hilton or anything. I figured we needed something a little more low profile. We _are_ supposed to be in Australia. But it's not slummy either. After we check-in, put down our luggage, we can go searching for Cyborg via the signal from his Titans communicator—"

"Which it was my brilliant idea to use," Kaden commented, over Halle head to Alex.

"But I was able to track and hack into."

"Yes, but you wouldn't have been able to track and hack into the system if I hadn't thought of using it."

"Yes, thinking of using it is nice and all, but you wouldn't have been able to find Cyborg if I hadn't been able to track and hack into it."

"But—"

"Oh, shut up, you two."

…

Cyborg had been unable to get his mind off the conversation he had shared with the mystery person last night. The only way he had gotten sleep was because he could literally turn his mind off. He hadn't been able to get his mind off it all day and it is not prudent to be distracted will trying to be a superhero. That leads to nothing good. Thankfully it was a quiet day and he just patrolling.

In that same city in late afternoon, three young teenagers were wandering around, hopelessly lost, trying to follow and little bleeping green dot on Alex's GPS system on his cell phone (AN: this is the future, remember. I think everyone will have GPS systems on their phones, like everyone has cameras on their phones now, except me.)

Alex paused on the sidewalk, looked up from the screen on his phone to the city scene around his, back to his phone, and then back up again. "Where are we?"

"You mean we're lost?" asked Halle.

"No, I just…don't know where we are…or how to get to were we want to be…"

"That's the definition of lost."

"You have a GPS. That's like a map times a bajillion," said Kaden.

"It's a little hard when the map is like, one inch by one inch and I've got to follow two dots that keep moving. Why can't Cyborg stay still!"

"We just need to figure out our bearings," said Halle, looking around. "Now where are we?"

"That was the problem to start with," muttered Kaden, earning him both the twin's sharp glares to silence him. "I was just saying!"

"Wait, wait!" exclaimed Alex. "I think he's coming in our direction. Yes, he's getting closer. He is definitely getting closer!"

"Alex., shut up, everyone is staring," warned Halle, as some curios passersby gave Alex concerned looks.

"Okay," said Alex, his voice now hushed, we just need to back track a few blocks and we'll be on the same road as him…"

"Am I allowed to talk now?" asked Kaden. The twins turned to him to see him having a big paper map unfolded between his hands.

"Where did you get that?" asked Halle.

"Airport. Service desk. Now we're on Crest Avenue. What road is Cy on."

"Um…," said Alex, zooming in on his phone to get better details. "Hudson."

"And is Cyborg going north or south?"

"Uh…up."

"North then. Okay, we would have to walk around a whole load of business buildings. It'd be easier to go through here." Kaden indicated with his hand to a nearby alleyway.

"But…but there could be bums or muggers down there."

Kaden couldn't help but roll his eyes at Halle statements. "We're three superpowered teens. I think we can handle bums or muggers. Plus, you know I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Alex made gagging actions in the background.

"Okay," Halle agreed with a smile. "To the alleyways."

…

Cyborg wore his holo-rings when out patrolling in the public like this, which disguised his appearance of half man-half machine with a simple hologram projection. He wasn't Cyborg all the time now, like he had been with the Titans. A lot of things were different then when he had been with the Titans.

"Hello Victor," yelled an old, grandma-like woman, sweeping the sidewalk in front of her bakery.

"Hey, Mrs. Bea," Cyborg replied with a wave. That bakery was only a few blocks from his backstreet hideaway and he was a frequent visitor and customer. Mrs. Bea, a stooped over, blue-haired lady, had taken an unofficial role of his doting great aunt after several months of his living in the city, apparently without any family.

"Come back later for supper!"

"I'll try."

"Don't try. Do."

He couldn't help but smile at the elderly woman's persistence and spirit even though she didn't live in the greatest part of town.

He turned into the alleyway which lead to his backstreet apartment. He was only a few steps into the alley when he heard voices. He paused, his foot paused in midstep, not willing to make noise and make his presence know yet.

"We're close. We're really close now."

"Well, the dots are practically over lapping."

"Yeah, but where is we if we are close?"

"Are you tracking the signal right?"

"Yes I'm tracking the signal right. Jeez, who do think I am?"

"The guy who got us lost."

"You got to keep bringing that up, don't you?"

"Yeah, well it happened like ten minutes ago."

The voices, they were bickering, like teenagers. Knowing that he wasn't about to be noticed, Cyborg took a few inquisitive steps forward, wanting to know who was slowly approaching around the corner. He soon discovered they _were_ teenagers.

They rounded the corner, two guys and one girl, in arguing huddle. The paused and silenced when they caught sight of him. The taller of the two boys glanced down at the cell phone in his hands and then back at him.

"Found him," he pronounced. The shorter boy, who was dressed in black with a white, high-collared trench coat, and wide sunglasses attempted to fold up a paper map, but gave up after a minor struggle and smashed it unceremoniously into his pocket.

"I thought he was supposed to be half-metal," whispered Halle, although Cyborg caught it. He was still wearing the holo-rings.

"Who are you?" Cyborg finally asked, more curious then concerned they were a threat.

"We the people who contacted you last night, about the Strike," explained the boy wearing sunglasses even though he was standing in the shadows of a dark alley.

"But your just kids."

"Kids!" exclaimed the same boy. "I happen to be fifteen…almost."

"We contacted and tracked you through the signal from your old Titans communicator," added the taller boy.

"My idea."

"My execution."

"Wait, wait, wait," interrupted Cyborg. "You're the one hacked into my systems?"

"It's a talent."

"Okay, but who are?" repeated Cyborg.

This time the girl, who had been hovering in the back of the group stepped forward, into the sunlight so Cyborg now saw that she was a redhead. "My name is Halle and this is Alex, my little brother—"

"By five minutes," the boy named Alex added.

"And our friend Kaden. We need your help."

"I thought you had information on the Strike?" questioned Cyborg, trying to discover were their stories matched up.

"We do," interrupted the boy named Kaden. "Well I do. We need your help concerning them."

"_Why _do you need my help?"

"Because you're a superhero," said Alex. "That's what you do, you help people. And you were a Teen Titan."

Cyborg's face turned hard. "That was a long time ago."

"But…," said Halle swiftly, noticing the man's change from curious to closed off. "Our parents were Titans too."

That got Cyborg's immediate attention, his eyes snapping to each of them in turn. "I should have known. You look just like Star," he said to Halle. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Cyborg licked his lips as he did a quick calculation in his head. "That makes a lot of sense."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. What are you kids doing? Trying to patch up an old team to fight the Strike or something. Not gonna happen. Go home to your parents." He turned away from the despondent teens, making ready to return to his apartment and leave them behind.

"But we can't!"

Cyborg paused at his door and turned his head of his shoulder to look at Halle.

"What do you mean, you can't."

"Our parents…they're gone," said Halle looking as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Gone?" questioned Cyborg, concern seeping into his voice.

"They were taken," explained Kaden, "Kidnapped by the Strike."

Cyborg turned his face away from the three teenagers, who watched his back unsure. Cyborg closed his eyes and bowed his head. He unlocked and opened the door.

"Come on in."

Halle, Alex, and Kaden followed the older man through the door that closed and locked automatically behind them. It was dark as they carefully descended a short flight of steps, hands clinging to the handrail in support. Cyborg reached the below landing first and turned on overhead lights that revealed a room, plated in metal and technology.

"Wow," Alex mouthed.

Cyborg took a ring off of each hand, and the image of him as a normal human being melted one of half flesh, half machine. Halle barely contained saying that he indeed was half-metal because she thought it would be rude.

Cyborg turned around to face them, a little group huddled at the foot of the stairs.

"Alex, right?" he said, his attention directed to the taller of the two boys. He nodded in agreement. "You look like Robin did, when he was younger. And you must be Raven's and BB's kid, huh?" The shorter of the boys, his sunglasses now perched on his black hair, revealing his purple eyes, gave a small shoulder shrug in concurrence. "Funny, I never saw Rae as the maternal type."

"She's surprisingly motherly and overprotective through the monotone and the whole, y'know, scaring criminals shitless." He had Beast Boy's voice, as well as his unruly hair sticking in every which direction and his pubescent scrawny exterior, but his tone was flat like Raven's and his skin as pale. Cyborg was barely able to contain a grin.

"You don't have to stand at the door. I don't have many comforts here. I don't get many guests…but you can all find a seat somewhere…then, tell me what happened."

Halle got the only computer chair, Alex took a seat on the second step up, and Kaden found comfort leaning against one of the few bare patches of wall. They retold their tale, cutting off and commenting over each other when necessary, but Kaden did a lot of the talking, as he knew the most about the Strike from his parents going after them. Cyborg paced along the opposite side of the room until Kaden pulled out the papers on the mysterious criminal organization, in which Cyborg paused to spread them out over a large table.

"But what do they want?" asked Cyborg in a half-mutter.  
"I don't know," answered Kaden. "My parents didn't either, as far as I can tell.

They're was so reason to the attacks, until yesterday. They took our parents. They took the former Titans and now you're the only one left—"

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Cyborg flew over to his monitoring system. A few keys were clicked on the keyboard at record spread and the main screen was filled with the image of a city block immersed in havoc.

"That's the city square. A lot of innocent people there." There was an explosion played out on the screen, screams of the crowd, and when the smoke cleared a symbol stood out upon a cracked building. Two crossed lightening bolts.

"I have to go. Stay here!" With that Cyborg ran through a door that was not the one they came through.

"Where did he—,"started Alex, but was cut off when they heard a car engine rev up and then speed away.

"Stay here," Kaden mocked. "Like hell we will. Where's that map?" Kaden pulled the balled up city map out of his pocket and swiftly smoothed it out on the nearby table. "We're here," he said, pocking his finger at a spot on the map, "And the city square is here," he sad finding another point on the map. "We walked through there a few hours ago. I can do that."

"Do what?" questioned Alex.

Kaden ignored him. "Hold hands. It's not necessary, usually, but the first usually freaks people out."

Halle grabbed Kaden's hand in her right and grabbed her brother's in her left.

"What freaks people out?!" demanded Alex.

Kaden didn't even hear him. His eyes were closed and he was muttering quiet, strange words. Suddenly they were encompassed in a black aura. Halle gasped and clung onto the two boys tighter. The place was empty, without light or sound or smell or even wind. It was hollowness, creepy from the inside out. A moment later, a moment as long as an eternity and as short as a milli-second, the blackness subsided, revealing hectic scenes of disaster, the city square.

"What are we doing here?" asked Halle in a small voice, surprised to have all the senses rushing back to her.

"Helping!" shouted Kaden in return before running off to stop some debris from a broken balcony above from falling on two college students. The twins shared a glance before running off in separate directions, Halle to lift a piece of rubble trapping a businessman's leg to the ground and Alex to rescue a crying child out of the middle of the chaos.

Cyborg was there as well, whether he had arrived before or after them was unknown. No one could tell much of anything in the mess. He was ready to fight but there was no one left to fight against, only scared people to help. Things slowly clamed when people realized there was no new danger threatening them. The ambulances and the police began to arrive.

"I thought I told you to stay," Cyborg said with anger in his tone, as he approached the three teenagers huddled together at the far end of the square.

Before either Halle or Alex could defend themselves as helping, Kaden retorted coldly, "I thought I didn't care."

"You're jut kids, you could have gotten hurt," Cyborg replied, trying to sound like a reasonable adult.

"I'm so tired of people telling me that," Kaden shot back. "'You're just a kid. You're too young. It's too dangerous.' Well, I've got news for you; you were just a kid too."

Cyborg's sternness softened a bit. "Let's get in the car. The authorities can handle it from here."

Once all four were in the older man's car, he spoke again. "If the Strike took down your parents, they _are_ too dangerous. I'm not willing to put a bunch of kids in the line of fire."

"You're not," said Kaden, "We put ourselves there."

"Actually, Kaden put us there," Alex quipped from the backseat.

"Well, I'm experienced," retorted Cyborg, eyes not drifting from the road I front of them.

"So were our parents," said Halle. "It didn't save them."

"All the more reason for you three not to get involved. This is way over your heads."

"They took our parents. We're already _involved_," Alex spat out.

"Look, I know this is hard for you guys and I want help, but I work alone now. I want to go after the Strike and I will, but not with you."

"You won't last a week," said Kaden darkly from the passenger's seat.

"Excuse me?"

"Is it just a coincidence that the Strike showed up here, half way across the country, in this city?"

"Are you saying they followed us?" asked Alex.

"No, but they came here for the same reason. To find him, the last Titan."

"They've been here before," said Cyborg, "A few months ago."

"So was I," said Kaden. "With my parents. They were tracking the Strike. They wanted you, Cyborg, to follow them too, to Gotham, where they could attack the Titans at once. But you didn't take the bait….now they're back. You're the one who doesn't see how way in over your head you are."

Cyborg gave the small, dark boy a sideways glance. "You're pretty slick for your age."

Kaden crossed his arms over his seatbelt. "Thanks."

"We're gonna go after the Strike with or without you," said Halle from the backseat.

"And we know you want to go after them too," added Alex.

"So we might as well join forces…plus, you'd feel guilty letting three _kids_ go out into the line of fire by themselves, wouldn't you?" quipped Kaden stoically, catching on the twin's game. Straight forward convincing didn't seem to be working, time for a new tactic.

"Plus, we do have all the information on the Strike that might be valuable in such a search," Halle supplied offhandedly. "If you don't want it, we can just use it ourselves."

"And he's a big walking target. They don't want us, they want him. We're better off without him," Kaden said, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see the man's reaction.

"I can understand if he doesn't want to. Not that big a loss," said Alex. "He's old. He's probably slow us down anyway."

"Wait, wait, wait! I am not _old_…"

"But…" started Alex, "What other reason do you not want to fight with a team of superpowered teens?"

"Obviously you're afraid that you won't be able to keep up with us like you would have been able to in your youth," added Kaden. It would have sounded ridiculous and over the top if he had not been speaking in a serious tone so similar to his mother's.

Hey, you think I can't keep up. I'm still in my prime…Look, I can't let you guys go after an international crime organization all by yourselves. You need some _experience _on the team. I mean, it's better we work together when we have the same goals. You've convinced me. I'll go with you, but I call the shots in battle a'right?"

"Okay…" said Halle in this bratty, exasperated breath that made it sound like they were in fact doing Cyborg a favor.

Kaden turned in his seat to share a smirk with the twins in the back. There first victory.

"Now what exactly can you three do?"


	14. Playing Games

Chapter 14: Playing Games

**Aki- **I'm finally back. I was uninspired by lack of reviews and was having a hard time writing this chapter (both the villain part and the fight sequence). Please review, it makes me happy and happy authors write faster. Or at least this one does. Except when I'm inspired by sad things, but this is an action fic and I need happy for this.

**Chapter 14: Playing Games**

"Madam, the message has been sent. You've already got the footage, I gather."

"What was your premiere clue," the woman replied sarcastically, not even turning her head to the direction of the man speaking. Instead she pressed a button on the arm of her chair, and large screen that had been flickering scenes of the Strike's latest public attack went blank.

"We didn't know the kids we're here or with Stone."

"If you've had bin doing your job correctly you 'ould have known," she said with a dangerous edge, the high back of her chair still all the man could see.

"I apologize for—," he began, but was cut off by the woman's cold laughing.

"An unforeseen twist, but very intriguing. I never expected zem to come…"

"No," the slightly nervous man quickly agreed, "Never. All of your surveillance proved them nothing more than regular teenagers."

"Regular teenag-ers with superpowers," the woman corrected. The man winced. "Don't worry for your life 'cause of this littil…shall we say, fail up. In fact, I find it rather…amusing."

"A—amusing," the man stuttered in relieved response. If only his men could see him now. He was top ranked among the Strike, only under the Miss. He was an image of fear in the lackeys and muscles of the organization. He was supposed to be high up, but even he was terrified of the consequences of screwing up, even if he was the second-hand man. He had seen how harsh the punishments could be. Let's just he used to be a bit farther down on the Strike's ladder.

"I'm very interested in how zees will all…play out."

"Aren't you worried about…complications?" he asked with move bravado, more assured that the French woman wasn't about to strangle him with an extended arm.

"Three inexperienced children are barely an issue. It's going to be much fun to see their reactions up close to our littil experiment."

"Indeed?"  
"Yes, and well talking of zee experiment, how is zee good docteur doing?"

"Good, the humans were no trouble. The alien and demon-girl…their differences is physiology was anticipated."

"Make sure he keep's dat up, eh, Williams."

The man winced at the use of his real name. Everyone else called him "sir" and had no knowledge to him being anything more than that.

"And with the robot man…the cyborg…we've got both the doctor and the professor ready for his well, two brains…"

"You have done well. You may go." She pressed the button on arm of her chair again and the screen, split several ways and showing different angles of the earlier Strike incident, came back to life.

"Yes, Madam," said the man and he promptly left.

…

"Hey, Halle."

"Shhh!"  
"Ha-lle," he repeated in a sing-song voice.

"Shut up," she retorted as sharply as she could in a hushed tone.

"I'm bored, let's talk."

"It's a stake out, we can't talk."

"Why not?"

"Because were supposed to be paying attention," Halle snapped.

Kaden leaned back on his heals, where he sat crouched on a fire escape. Halle almost signed in the relief of his silence and lifted a pair of scanoculars to her eyes. Basically they were binoculars, but way cooler. A simple touch of the button and the scanoculars could change from regular view to night vision, infrared, radiation signatures, as well as zoom in and out as well as other features Halle didn't know or understand yet. Apparently they were very big on the bird-watching market.

"Why do they call it a 'stake out.' What does it have to do with "stakes" anyway. I think it would be cool if we had some stakes. Like hammer a tent to the ground, stab it threw a vampires heart stakes, not like steaks like, y'know, moo. I won't want those kind, I don't eat them. I'm vegan."

"Your vegan?" asked Halle, her curiosity keeping her from constraining herself. Maybe it was because this was the first time the younger teenage boy was talking about himself rather then dishing out info on the Strike.

"Yeah, well see, my dad is because he turns into all different animals and whatnot. And my mom can't cook, so my dad cooked my whole life, so that what I ate, or didn't eat I guess, in most cases. Tofu and soy, but not meat, milk, or eggs."

"Wow," said Halle, the scanoculars forgotten in her lap.

"I'm not sure exactly where I stand on the moral implications and the whole animals' rights side of being a vegan, but it's what I like to eat. I guess I've eaten it for so long its what I like my taste buds are used it. I had chicken once; it was so weird."

"I totally get it. Like when you drink Diet Coke and everyone says that Diet Coke stays like crap compared to real Coke, but you think real Coke tastes funky 'cause you only drink Diet."

"Exactly."

Halle communicator buzzed to life. She pulled it off her belt, screwing up her face against the tickling sensation. It was a Titan's communicator. Apparently Cyborg had been working on an updated version when the Titans broke up, a story that none of the three teenagers knew and Cyborg wasn't up to sharing. She clicked a button on the side and the "T" emblem changed into a screen.

"Yes?"

"Stop yapping over there, you're going to blow our cover," Cyborg hissed over the screen.

Halle pursed her lips and Kaden shrunk back in the background, out of view of Cyborg's reprimand.

"I teamed you two up because I thought 'the terrible twins' would argue the whole time." Halle saw Alex make a face over Cyborg's metallic shoulder. The half-man, half-robot, had already donned Halle and Alex as "the terrible twins" because of their constant bickering.

"You split us up like this because you wanted someone who could fly in each group," Halle retorted.

"Technically, I can't fly," Kaden added.

"You can teleport and levitate, that's close enough."  
"It's not the same thing," Kaden muttered in discontent.

"Just stop the conversation and pay attention," Cyborg begged.

"We will," Halle assured before turning off the screen.

"You got me in trouble," she hissed venomously at Kaden.

"Hey, aren't we not supposed to be talking."

"Now you decide to shut up."

"Only 'cause you're yelling at me."

…

Alex pulled the sleeves of his sweater-like, black shirt down his arms. He never expected night times to get so cold! They were on a roof top about half a block away from Halle and Kaden position on a fire escape so the two were just visible in the darkness and their muted whispers could sometimes be heard in the quick darkness.

Alex stifled a yawn. Cyborg through him a look.

"What?" Alex whispered. "I'm tired. This is the third night in a row we've done this. And sitting here is just boring. And who's to say the Strike is going to show up here anyway?"

"Weren't you listening to Kay 1 when he was explaining the Strike's pattern?"

"I've mostly gotten into the habit of tuning Kaden out," said Alex sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"Habit…? Haven't you known him all of five days?"

"Haven't you known him all of four?"

"So?"

"Doesn't it irate you how he goes from all silent to talking nonstop from zero to sixty…"

"If you had known his parents, it would be no surprise. Anyway, we known three things about the Strike's…strikes. One, the first is to get attention. Two, they never attack the same place twice. Three, they always hit at least one location per city that carries this controversial new medicine that is being experimented with in treating mental illnesses. There are only two places in this city that have that chemical. An output of Star Labs, which was attacked last time the Strike had the pleasure of visiting, and here," said Cyborg pointing to a business building across the street. "The Strike is going to come here sooner or later and I want to be ready for them."

"Okay, okay…"

The night was once again silent.

"Are they still talking?" asked Cyborg incredulously, again picking up whispers of conversation on the midnight breeze.

"Probably flirting," said Alex, voice full of disgust, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are they like…an item."

"'An item' what are you like from two-0's 2?"  
"Actually, yes."

"No, there not '_an item'._ Not yet. But hey, they've only known each other five days. Give it time."

Cyborg couldn't help but smirk at the adolescent's attitude. He remembered what it was like when small things like teen relationships and pizza toppings were the world.

His attention wandered back to the building they were staking out and not in enough time. One of the windows on the second floor blew out in a small explosion.

"That's our cue," said Cyborg grabbing his communicator. However, before he got a message out, Kaden and Halle came flying past on a circle platform made of Kaden's dark energy.

"Fly us down," commanded Cyborg.

"Okay," said Alex, closing his eyes and taking a deep breathe.

"What are you doin,?"

Alex peaked at Cyborg through one open eye. "I'm getting in the flying mindset."

"What?"

"Flying is not as easy as it looks!"

"There's no time for this," said a battle-ready half-machine. So instead of waiting for Alex to be ready to fly, he jumped off the roof of the three story building.

"What the hell?" screamed Alex, running to the edge of the roof. Cyborg had landed in a crouch below before running off across the street. He had left an indent in the sidewalk.

"Okay, Alex, ole' buddy. Fly…you've done it before. It was really schway…3" Alex felt a tingling sensation go down his neck, like the one you get when someone is playing with your hair, and felt himself lift off the cement roof.

He managed, barely, to get himself to fly across the street. He ran very hard into the building, but he got across the street. Getting himself to move to the right and lower several yards to the blown out window on the second floor was another task.

"Lower, lower," Alex whispered to himself, until his toes finally landed on the lip of the second floor of the brick building. From there he inched along in a way that only some who was half floating could manage.

He could here crashes and yells and general ruckus. "Almost there." Just a few more feet, one step…two steps…here!

Of course, as Alex reached the window, one of Cyborg's sonic blasts came through, missing Alex by mere centimeters. As per the reaction of any normal human being when nearly being sonic blasted when walking on a tiny ledge, he lost balance, through his arms out and waved them in wide circles, and slipped off the ledge. He groped to catch the ledge with his fingertips, but he missed…

He winced in fear of the imminent impact of the ground, but it didn't come. He opened his eyes. He was floating.

"Talk about joy of flying," he muttered before zooming through the window post haste…just in time to be rammed into the wall as Kaden was flung into him.

"Crap!"  
They landed in a heap against the wall. "Get off," said Alex, pushing, but Kaden seemed a little too dazed, perhaps it was a concussion?, to move, so Alex disentangled himself from the tails of the younger boy's white overcoat, and stumbled onto his feet. Halle was engaged in a quick hand-to-hand battle with what suspiciously looked like a ninja. He was dresses from toe to top of head in black, except for the image of crossing white lightening bolts on his chest. He was at least a head shorter than Halle, but he was extremely quick and agile in his attacks and dodges. Halle was swiftly losing ground under his swift motions.

Cyborg, on the other hand, was doing battle with a man in a robotic suit, who shot lasers out of his fingertips. Alex would have thought it schway if the situation hadn't been nearly fatal.

"Need a hand?" Alex called to Cyborg. The half-metal man punched the man in the robotic suit in the gut, which didn't do much cause he was in a robotic suit.

"No," yelled back Cyborg, "Help Hal!"

"Halle, need a hand?" Alex yelled, running a few steps across the room, dodging some finger lasers, and letting a starbolt form about his fist.

"No," she replied, ducking under a kick aimed at her head, quite a feat due to the assailant's lack of height. She swiped her leg under his, attempting to unbalance him. "Take care of Kaden."

Alex glanced back to where he had left the shorter, dark-haired boy. He was now on his feet, clutching his head in one hand, stumbling aimlessly.

Alex flew over to him. "You okay?"

"Rubber…chicken…"

Alex sweatdropped at the response. Kaden ended up leaning on the wall for support. "What happened to you?"

"Tried to block lasers with shield-thingie, too many, and boom!"

"You…just stay here…"

Kaden nodded his head, wincing in pain as he did so. Then Halle screamed. Alex whipped around. Halle was on her knees, clutching her arm in anguish. The ninja grabbed her by her hair with one hand and raised his other to—

"Not my sister," growled Alex and he shot his prepared starbolt right into the ninja, who fell backwards. It should have been head over heals, but he was weighted down by the girl he was trying to attack, his fingers still tangled in her hair.

"My head!" Halle screamed.

"That didn't go as planned…"

Halle took out her anger, after disentangling herself, but kicking the ninja while he was down. Not with any particular martial arts move she had gleaned from her father's training, but like his side was a soccer ball. However, the ninja grabbed her leg mid-swing and with a simple twist landed her on her back as he swiftly jumped to his feet. Halle's head crashed painfully into the tile floor and she emitted a low groan.

To keep the short ninja from attacking his twin while she was down, he aimed a starbolt at him. The ninja managed to leap out of the way, leaving a smoldering mark on the floor. Alex continued firing, but the ninja back flipped and somersaulted to avoid everyone. A trail of scorch marks former on the wall in the path of the ninja's direction around the room.

One such starbolt hit the wall very close to where Kaden was leaning.

"Watch it," he yelled, a little more back into himself than earlier.

"Sorry."

That moment's distraction was all the ninja needed to kick Alex so hard in the stomach that he flew over the nearby table. However, when the ninja was distracted with attacking Alex, Kaden lifted rubble, a broken off chair leg it appeared, with his telekinesis and aimed to hit the ninja over the head with it. The ninja proved to be a lot more observant then first realized, and he jumped out of the path of the swinging piece of wood.

The momentum was too much, and Kaden was unable to stop the flying object before it hit Cyborg, who was gaining the upper hand by exploiting a weakness in the abdomen area of the robotic armor, was hit in the head. The robotic-suited man put a fist in Cyborg's gut and for the second time that night Alex was hurled into the wall by one his comrade's flying bodies.

The robotic man raised his hands to fire on the Alex-Cyborg heap. Halle, back on her feet and seeing the villain's actions, made a running charge at him. The robotic man noticed her plenty ahead and instead of raising a hand of defense, stepped aside. Halle ran straight into Kaden who had been trying to sneak attack the robotic man from behind.

The robotic-suited man raised his laser-firing fingers again, but did not point them towards any of his downed foes, but instead, at the wall.

Satisfied, the robotic man called to the ninja, who was amusing himself with trashing the remainder of the room that hadn't been trashed during the fight, "We're done here." And they exited without a fuse.

"What happened?" Alex groaned, sitting up, rubbing his head.

"They didn't even take anything," commented Halle, holding her left arm close to her chest.

"That's not even the disturbing part."

"What is?" Alex asked, wondering what Kaden could mean.

"Halle and me were the first people in here after the explosion. The two were just standing there…waiting for us."

"They knew we were coming?"

"It was a set up," Cyborg growled, punching the wall. The three sitting teens looked up and saw what the robotic man had laser-carved into the wall before he left, two crossing lightning bolts.

"But if it was a set up," pondered Halle out loud. "Why did they just leave? Why didn't they kill us or kidnap us…?"

"Because it wasn't part of their orders. The Strike is toying with us…and we played right into their hands."

None of the teens spoke; Cyborg looked and sounded absolutely pissed.

"Is your arm okay?" Kaden whispered, shifting closer to Halle on his knees.

"I think it might be fractured."

"Here, let me." Kaden gently took hold of Hale's left arm, although she could not help but wince at even the small movements. His hand glowered and, to Halle's surprise, the pain was gone.

"Wha?"

"Healing."

She observed the rubble around the room. Cyborg was seething across the room from them, a few of his wires sparked, having been knocked out of place. Alex was trying not to show it, but his face twisted in pain whenever he moved his right leg. Kaden leaned his head against the wall in pain, closing his eyes and whispering strange words she had heard him say a few time before, when preparing to use his powers.

"There were only two of them," Halle said allowed.

"And they beat us to a pulp," added Alex.

Cyborg turned around . "Y'know why?"

"Because we came in unprepared," suggested Halle, feeling bad for rushing in with Kaden before their two other teammates.

"We can't completely control our powers," added Alex guiltily.

"No,… because we weren't fighting as a team. We let them use us against each other. I'm at fault as much as you, maybe even more. I've fought on a team before, unlike you three. Doesn't matter how long I haven't now, because I didn't for a second consider how you kids were doing when I was off fighting your own battle," the man wiped her hand over his brow,"…this isn't going to work."

"Are you saying your ditching us, tin man?" asked Kaden, breaking his silence. Halle and Alex might have been shocked at the nickname if it had not been for Kaden using them for four days straight. Tin man, scrap yard, trash can…apparently those were how Kaden's father had referred to Cyborg in sparse tales about 'the old days.' Neither of the twins was willing to test their luck with employing such titles.

"No, I _am_ saying that before we can take out the Strike, we have to become a team…and I'm ready to teach."

…

"They have returned, Madam."

"Let them in."

Large double doors opened into the throne-like room. And in entered a short man in a ninja getup and a man in a robotic suit.

"The aptly named Striker and the muchly improved Adonis…it went well, I presume."

"Very good, Ma'am. Me and the excuse for a cyborg go _way_ back…it was nice to actually win a fight against a Titan."

"It seems revenge is out shared moteev," said the woman. "But Striker is here just for zee thrills, eh?"

Striker just nodded in response, although it was almost impossible to tell in the darkened room in his almost solid black outfit.

"And what off the zee children? Is it as I expected?"

"Not a threat. They practically took each other out for us."

"Zis is good. Good work, gentilmen. You are dismissed."

The two henchmen gave slight nods in departure before turning and leaving the long room. Both the woman and her right-hand man said nothing until the thick doors closed behind the hired muscle.

"'Ow is zee docteur doing?"

"He is completely on schedule. The, uh, Titans will be ready as planned."

"Good…you have not failed me, Williams."

"Thank you, Madam Rouge."

1 Cyborg has given all the 'kids' nicknames: Kaden is Kay, Halle is Hal, and Alex is Al (Alex is already a nickname!). Cy is secretly amused how 'the terrible twins' nicknames rhyme.

2 I really got to thinking what people in the future would call the years from 2000 to 2009. It's not like the Ninties or the Seventies or whatever. I decided on the 'two-O's' as in two (2) and 'o' short for zero, but plural. Get it?

3 schway cool. 'Schway' is a slang term that they used in the cartoon 'Batman Beyond' for cool. They had several future slang terms. I actually have used it since then without thinking about it. I think we should make 'schway' the 'cool' of the future like how 'groovy' is the 'cool' of the past.

I was trying to write Madam Rouge's accent French. For some reason, on the show, it was Russian, but she's French (and not just in name), so I made it French.


	15. Costumes and Capers

**Aki- **This was originally a very, very long chapter, but after I finished writing it I decided to spilt it up into two, meaning you get a faster update, a pretty big chapter next time. Oh yeah, thanks to Tenshi for helping me by majorly edit this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Costumes and Capers **

"Why are we making costumes again?" "I don't know, something about team unity, the spirit of a superhero, secret identities…more effectiveto fight in…" Halle listed off in a disinterested tone.

"And why is Kaden the only one not doing anything?" Alex asked another question, nursing the finger he just stabbed with a needle.

"I already have a costume. The black clothes, the white trench coat, the unnecessary sunglasses…come on…"

"I'm done, I'm going to go change into this."

"You're done?" said Alex skeptically.

"Yeah," said Hale, a bundle of fabric in her arms.

"How?"

"Home Ec. I learned how to sew."

Alex grumbled under his breath as Halle left the boys. "Jeez, I took woodshop and all I ended up with was a fractured wrist."

"You fractured your wrist?" asked Kaden curiously. "In woodshop?" Amusement and skepticism leaked in the younger boy's voice.

"Shut up…this is the twenty-first century, why do I have to use a needle and thread to make clothes? Whatever happened to Wal-mart. Weren't we supposed to have robots to do our house chores by now? I mean, we don't have hovercrafts or a moon colony or nothin'."

"Do I detect some bitterness?"

"Shut up, Kaden."

Kaden sufficed with sticking his tongue out at Alex, who didn't notice as his attention was turned back to the bundle of fabric on his lap. The boys, and only moments ago Halle too, were sitting on the floor of Cyborg's ''lab'. It was the first room they had seen of his basement living quarters. He also had a gym, bathroom, and garage. When asked where the money (and the building permits) to build and extend facilities deeper into the ground and into surrounding apartment building basementcamefrom, they onlyreceived a few indistinguishable mumbles in response.

"How do I look?" said Halle, now returned, gathering the attention of the two boys. She was dressed in her new costume, a fully black fit of a tank top, a mini-skirt, and calf-length leggings. Fully black, except for her bright pink converse, the only athletic-like shoes she had brought with her on their impromptu 'vacation'.

"Nice," said Kaden, "Almost as cool as mine." It would have sounded cocky if there hadn't been a distinguishable note of teasing in his tone.

"I wish I had some boots. Big, long, black ones. Then I could ditch the leggings and the bright pink shoes."

"I thought you liked pink," inquired Alex.

"I do, but it kinda ruins the look, for serious."

"I'll pretend I know what that means—OW!" Alex stabbed his hand with a needle again.

Halle decided to take pity on her younger brother's incompetence. "Here, let me help," she said, kneeling and taking the needle, thread, and fabric away from her brother.

"You?" he asked, shocked.

"Can you sew?"

"No…but I mean, you…doing something nice for me?"

"You're my little brother. I've got to protect you from the dangers of sewing needles."

"Twin brother, and…okay, I guess." Alex observed his sister as if she were from a different species as she took over the making of his shirt.

Kaden interrupted the stunned silence with a much needed observation. "Where is scrap yard, anyway?"

"I don't know…" provided Alex with a shrug. "Patrol?"

"You think with this whole 'learning to work as a team' thing we would have better communication."

"Or you could have just paid attention an hour ago when I told you I'd be in the garage."

"Speak of the devil…"

Cyborg was standing in an open doorway, several objects held in his large hands.

"Belts," he explained at Kaden's inquiring looks. She took one and stretched it out. They were black and of a strong woven material and the oblong Titans communicator was attached the belt buckle.

"They come off," explained Cyborg with a brief demonstration, "But it's easy to carry this way. By the way, nice outfit, Hal."

"Thank you, and Alex, your shirt is done."

"Already?"

"Can you believe that I am actually good at being domestic?"

"You've never shown it before."

"Because then the parents have an excuse to give me extra chores."

Alex held up his shirt. "Not what I expected."

"I worked with what I had."

The shirt was long-sleeved, black at the top, but under diagonal slant across the chest the shirt was a dark blue.

"I think the asymmetrical thing will work for you," assured Halle. Kaden was just laughing.

"I thought you said you were good at sewing…"

…

"Remember, when working at a team, communication is essential…"

"Why is this starting to sound like a marriage counseling session?" That comment earned Kaden an elbow in the side by Halle, which was worse than one would think considering the whole superstrength thing.

"Asking for help, getting others out of the way before you attack, or even telling others to back off if you've got it under control…Being part of a team means working together, unlike what we did last night."

There was a collective grimace by the group.

"Now, we've already gone over the different attack forms and group moves, so let's get started."

Two hours and a half hours, several bruises, and a few slip ups later the three young teenagers were curled up on the floor of the gym in various positions, out of breath, tired, and achy. Cyborg seemed unfazed by the intense workout practice session, but than again, he was half-robot and often only needed to recharge after such exertions.

"I'll go get some pizza for dinner," he announced, walking towards the gym doors. Alex just grunted in consent, curled over his stomach where one of Halle's wayward, superpowered fists had accidentally found its mark. "Meat-lovers good with everybody, okay," said Cyborg almost out of the door.

"Wait," Kaden yelled after him. "I'm vegan…"

"Oh no, not another one. I'm going to have to beat up your father for ruining you." It should have been funny and Cyborg had only meant it as an off hand comment, a little joke, but it had a profound effect on all three teenagers. Kaden instantly looked down and twin's eyes flickered between the metal-man and their young friend.

Cyborg took several long strides across the gym to Kaden's side. He kneeled down in front of the boy and placed a cybernetic hand gently on one of his shoulders.

"We'll get them back."

"I know," said Kaden, looking up into the older man's face and smiled. It reminded Cyborg of his best friend's, BB's, smile, one he hadn't seen in years. Cyborg had gotten to know that little green boy very well, and by extension, he knew Kaden pretty well too. On Kaden's face was Beast Boy's fake smile, the one he put on for the benefit of others, and maybe to make himself feel better, when things weren't really alright. He never really ever knew what to say when Gar had gotten like that, so it was only proper that he didn't know what to say now.

"You're a good kid…I'll see what I can do about some meat-free pizza…" Cyborg grimaced at the thought and Kaden laughed at his expression. A genuine laugh, but a little strained.

'BB, Rae, Star, Rob…you should be proud,' thought Cyborg as he exited the room, 'They're all good kids.'

…

A little over half an hour later, Cyborg was retuning to his alleyway entrance laden with pizza; three boxes, as only Kaden was going to eat the vegan pizza, he could down a meat lover's pizza all by himself, and he thought cheese was a good standard pizza flavor (did pizza have flavors?) for Alex and Halle, who may have been too tired or unmotivated to protest meat-lovers pizza if is wasn't their favorite.

Cyborg balanced the pizza boxes in one hand as he prepared to type in the key code to open his highly secure living quarters. Concentrating on his balancing act, he started, then yelped, as he felt something knock the boxes out of his hand.

He looked around wildly, until he caught sight of something - 'crazed, city alley bird' his mind supplied a bit improbably - winging away around a corner. Shaking his head, he turned to concentrate on the important thing:

"The pizza!" Cyborg yelled in an unnecessarily dramatic way - especially since none of the pizzas had spilled from their cardboard boxes, but were just upended. Some of the toppings and cheese might have been disarranged, but they would still taste good…wait, was that bird green? Cyborg secretly blamed the nuclear power plant on the edge of town that had an unsavory reputation of not being too careful with their waste or car pollution or ... something. Anyway, city animals were way too not-scared of humans, and it was kind of creepy at times, like when mutated birds attacked your pizzas. Wait…green bird?

Just then a hail of green energy blasts shot towards him.

…

When the communicators in their belts began to simultaneously go off, the three superpowered teenagers were still in the gym lazing about, wondering what was taking Cyborg so long with the pizza**.** All of them fumbled with their belts, but Alex was the first to successfully get it detached and press the receive button.

Cyborg appeared too busy to simplytalk into the screen, so instead he just yelled. Alex could only vaguely make out the side of his face: "I hope you three have rested up a bit, because we have company!" Alex gaped at the screen as there was a very loud bang from…was that a dumpster? "Are you ready to try out some of those new moves?"

Alex looked up at Halle and Kaden when the communication shut off. They had heard everything. "Ready?" he said with a small grin.

"Ready," said Halle and Kaden nodded. They were all prepared and willing to kick some Strike butt. They ran out of the gym, across the lab and up the steps to the exit door. They almost stumbled trying to get out at once, teamwork training momentarily forgotten. They emerged just in time to see Cyborg flung through the air to landon his back on the ground in the deep shadows of the alleyway. A figure stood menacingly over him. Three more waited in the shadows behind her.

"Halt!" yelled Halle in pure superhero form. The figure, a woman, turned slightly. Her eyes were glowing green and in that vague light they could make out her features.

They all stopped, uncertain.

"Mom?" Halle said. "What's going on?"

* * *

Aki- A few notes of the text, those are only the first versions of the kid's uniforms with what they were able to make with what they had. Probably by cutting up and resewing their other pieces of clothing. I hinted as such with Halle's mentions about the boots.


	16. Twisted Games

**Chapter 16: Twisted Games**

The woman raised a fist and glowed green for just a moment before shereleased a starbolt that struckHalle in the chest, making her fly through the air.

"Halle!" Kaden cried. Heraised a hand and caught her in black soul-self 1 energy before she could make a rather painful impact with anything.

"Thanks," she breathed, trying to catch her breathas she regained her footing on the ground, although Kaden was several yards away and it was not possible for him to be able to hear her.

The four watched apprehensively as Starfire's three companions moved slowly closer to her faint green glow. They sttod strangely still for the moment, faces horribly familiar - Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy.

"What are you doing?" Kaden yelled at his mother, but she wasn't responding. _-_

"They're not themselves," Cyborg yelled back, the distraction giving him enough time to get on his feet, "They're under some type of mind control."

"Mind control?" Kaden repeated, curious despite the strangeness of the moment. The human mind was not so simple as to be as easily manipulated as scifi channel movies made it appear. But he could feel it - they were not themselves. In fact, the woman that was apparently Halle and Alex's mother felt incredibly empty at the moment. She was feeling no emotions at all.

"What?" Alex asked disbelievingly.

Cyborg didn't answer, as Starfire moved suddenly into the air, then sped towards him.

"Al, Kay," called Halle, having picked up the use of Cyborg's nicknames. She nodded jerkily to the rest of the old Teen Titans who had turned their attentions to them.

Robin moved first, springing forward and swiping his bo staff under his son's legs, causing him to trip and fall hard on his butt. The man stood and raised his staff high in the air, ready to bring it down. Alex was too stunned to move. Robin swung the staff down and Alex flinched in anticipation. Before the hit was complete, Kaden's black energy surrounded the bo staff, stopped it, pulled it out of Robin's hands, and flung it far out of the alley.

This brought Robin's attention to Kaden, and away from Alex, a painfully easy target on the ground.

"I got this, take my Mom," said Kaden, not looking away from his opponent. Alex nodded, understanding the twisted logic. It was slightly easier to fight someone who wasn't your parent. So Alex ran towards the grey-skinned, purple-haired woman who had to be Kaden's mother. Halle, he could see out of the corner of his eye, was ducking the talons of a green hawk circling her head.

All of the mind-controlled former Titans were wearing a semblance of their old costumes, except they were solid black with black embossed lightning bolts across their chests. Robin and Beast Boy were in full-body outfits, Raven was in a leotard and cloak, and Starfire in Tameranian style shirt, skirt, gloves, and boots.

The woman called Raven looked at him with empty eyes. Alex released a blue starbolt; it was badly aimed and very weak. It only grazed the Raven's shoulder and didn't faze her at all. All the shock, heart-wrenching pain, and disbelief pushed away all room for righteous fury.

Raven's black energy encased a nearby trashcan and it came hurtling at Alex. He squinted his eyes in concentration. 'Please fly,' he thought to himself and jumped. He made it into the air, but not fast enough to be free and clear. The trash can hit his feet, causing him to pinwheel in the air a few times before regaining himself. When he did, he flew up out of the alley where there was more room. Raven followed on a circular platform of black energy. It looked liked it was going to be an aerial fight.

Cyborg and Starfire were reasonably well matched. Both had some superstrength: Star from her alien physiology and Cyborg from his, well, robot physiology. Both had projectiles of some sort; she had starbolts and he had the sonic canon. They were both seasoned in hand-to-hand combat. However, there was one thing that gave Starfire the upper hand over Cyborg, and that was that ability to fly.

Cyborg was able to dodge a barrage of starbolts by diving behind a nearby dumpster, but he knew what was going on. Mind-controlled Starfire was backing him up to the dead-end of the alleyway with her successive attacks. There was not much room to maneuver and often only the ability to retreat back.

"Sorry about this Star," he said, leveling his sonic cannonarm to the height of his flying former comrade.

Halle had just about enough of swooping green birds. Or one particular swooping green bird. Instead of ducking again as the hawk descended, she dodged to the side and karate chopped it on the back. It fell, but moments before the bird hit the ground it transformed into an agile kitten, able to take most of the impact with ease. Still, the animal seemed a little dazed from being karate chopped in the back by someone with superstrength. Halle could have made another move, but the kitten looked so harmless and cute and wide-eyed…until it transformed into a very vicious wolf 2 and snarled menacingly.

Halle let out a small scream as the animal lunged at her and she jumped backwards into a brick wall. 'Crap,' she thought, 'Dad never taught me how to wrangle animals…Dad…'

She glanced quicklyover to where Kaden was fighting her father to witness her newly acquired friend block a blow, only to be hammered in the gut by another. Halle was brought back to her own fight as the green furred wolf sprang at her, growling**.** She narrowly escaped by jumping to the side, but landed painfully on the cement ground.

She was backon her feet in just a second, but that undefended moment was all that the predator needed to slice his claws through the air and leave a trail of parallel gashes on her shoulder. Halle looked numbly at the wounds; due to her last second dodge, they weren't too deep and the adrenaline prevented from really feeling them yet_,_ but, she thought a bit wildly, they did cut through her new costume top.

"Oh, it's on."

Kaden felt nothing from any of them. No fear, anger, hate, sadness, joy… anything that one might expect from a fighter. He had just been hit in the gut and it sucked, majorly. Robin brought a hand up for another strike, but Kaden stopped it with his black soul-self energy. The Robin- drone yanked against the translucent, magic-induced binding several times. It broke, finally, but the delay gave Kaden time to regain his breath. Robin swung his fist again, but Kaden blocked it with his forearm. Robin grabbed the boy's forearm and flung him over his shoulder**.** Kaden landed with a bang and much clattering into a row of aluminum trash cans, scattering them everywhere. Robin moved towards him.

Kaden's eyes glowed and his powers wrapped around a trash can that had rolled to the opposite side of the alley,behind the approaching Robin. He lifted it and withfull force brought it flying at the back of the once-Wonder Boy's knees, making him fall flat on his face and temporarily stunning him.

"Cool," Kaden commented, before surveying the local battling scenes.

He flinched when he witnessed Halle do a Chuck Norris style round-house kick to his father's head. His father was in the form of a leopard at the time, but still. This caused him to revert to his human form and collapse onto the ground.

Cyborg wasn't faring as well. Star was dodging the sonic blasts with a flying ballerina-like ease. Cyborg was backed into a corner with no other options but to continually fire on hisopponent, flying well out of reach.

"Halle!" Kaden shouted and she turned her attention on him. "Your mom," he said, forming a short flight of stairs out of his soul-self energy. Halle nodded in understanding and got a runing start from the mouth of the alleyway. They had practiced this strategy earlier. She ran up the flight of steps and pushed herself into a leap at the end, extending her body long and she flew through air on perfect aim to collide with her mother. It was a great move, a beautifully planned and wonderfully executed,…but it was also the moment the tides turned from the kids and Cyborg of having the upper hand with two adult Titans out and another on the way, to total butt-whooping losing.

You see, at the same moment Halle was making her graceful, aerial arch was the moment in which Alex and Raven and descended from fighting higher in the air, a rather give and take battle, because neither had quit gotten the upper hand above the other, although Alex might admit his erratic flying made him quit a hard target and even when he had strengthened his starbolts, his erratic flying made him a bad aimer. Alex was not in Halle's way at first, not until his was hit in the chest by pure, dark, energy, quite stronger than Kaden's had been when Alex and him had sparred, hit him the chest. He was pushed into Halle's trajectory. So she crashed into him mid-flight and then the both of them fell and crashed into Cyborg on the ground. Kaden facepalmed. Total, butt-whooping losing.

Raven landed on the ground between the recently reawakened Beast Boy and Robin. Starfire landed also among the group, blocking off Kaden and the Halle-Alex-Cyborg pile from the entrance of the alleyway and the apartment door.

"Crap," said Kaden, especially because he was the only member of his team currently standing. The older Titans, Starfire, Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy, had not worked together as of yet in there attack, but now that they targets were all in one place, it seemed that they were all but ready.

The Halle-Alex-Cyborg pile successful untangled itself and all of its members found there feet and took fighting stances with Kaden. However, it didn't make up for the fact that they were all worse for the wear. Halle and Alex bruised and achey from their fall, Kaden stomach still hurt from pummeled by Robin's fist, and even Cyborg had seemed to lose his edge. And the four black-clad, former Titans seemed unfazed by any of the attacks from earlier.

It was quick, it was humiliating, and it was painful. A total and complete butt-whooping.

And then they left, before any real damage was done. The teens and Cyborg were still alive and functioning. The pizza had been trampled and ruined. There were no broken bones, mostly out of luck and a semblance of teamwork that they have scrounged together. But there was scratches and bruises and, maybe the most dangerous of all, broken spirits.

…

Cyborg had left to get more food for the kids. None of them had an appetite at the moment, but he persisted, saying that they needed to keep their strength up. They had sleeping bags and pillows in the gym, which had become their unofficial sleeping place and often hang out during there stay with Cyborg. It was the only room with enough open floor space to fit them.

"Man, when we fought out parents in practice, they weren't so kick-ass," said Alex sulkily.

"I know," agreed Halle. "…I feel so…useless."

"Wah?"

"That whole battle, either our parents won and we lost or we won and beat up our parents. We couldn't win…not really…and they left right after. The Strike was playing with us again."

"Yeah, I know, a really twisted game."

"I don't feel like much of a hero…We haven't even won once…we're no closer to finding our parents, our parents kicked our butts, the Strike holds all the cards and we don't where they are or how to free our parents from the mind control once we do find them…I'm so pathetic," she said staring at the ceiling, trying to hid her budding tears.

"Halle," said Alex, touching his sister's shoulder gently. "You're not pathetic."

" 'Heroine,' 3 that what my name means. That's what mom and dad wanted me to be. They always told us the story of how careful they were to pick out our names. I'm supposed to be a hero, but I'm just a poser. Who cares if I can sew my own costume or know a few moves or whatever…I don't know how to save the people I love…I don't know how to do anything really."

"What about my name," insisted Alex. " 'Alexander'…protector of mankind. I can't protect much of anything. Not our parents, myself…you."

"Me? I don't need protecting…I can handle myself."

"You're my sister, I'm always going to worry about you."

"But I'm your big sister, I should be the one worrying about my little brother."

"Hold on a second, let's get this straight once and for all, you're my twin sister, not my big sister, I don't care if you were born five minutes before me, we developed in the same womb."

"Ew, gross."

"It's what happened."

"Yeah, but you don't have to get in all the anatomy of it all."

"I'm just trying to prove my—'

"Fine, fine, _twin_ sister. Let's just not get into it again."

"So…I won."

"Yeah, you won," said Halle in an exasperated kind of tone, rolling her eyes. But the humor of the incident was short-lived. She glanced over at Kaden, who was sitting in a meditation position in the far corner by himself.

Alex followed his gaze. "He's been sulky ever since the fight."

"Well, us two haven't exactly been sunshine either. It's a lot to handle."

"I know it's a lot to handle, I'm trying to handle it too."

"But at least we've got each other to help get through it with." Halle glanced back at the boy again. "I hope he's okay."

"I'm okay." Halle and Ale almost jumped out of there seats on the floor when Kaden spoke up so unexpectedly, not even cracking his eyes open.

"How did you…?" started Alex.

Kaden openly one eye narrowly. "I have good hearing…and you two are loud."

"So you're good?" asked Halle.

"As good as to be expected."

"Oh…well…okay."

"I know you guys don't get me...I don't always get myself. I've always tried to live by my dad's philosophy."

"Philosophy?" asked Alex.

"Yeah. He says both good and bad things happen in your life and you can either laugh or cry. He decided to laugh to the bitter end. It's easy to laugh when everything is going right…but my mom's not like my Dad on that at all. See, both my mom's and my powers are controlled by our emotions. Any emotion too strong and they go out of control. My blood is more diluted than hers, so I've always had a little more range to play with. With good emotions, it usually is not that bad, but with negative emotions—sadness, anger, hate, fear—everything I'm feeling right now, it's so hard to control…"

"Oh, Kay…"

" 'Fighter.' That's what 'Kaden' means, 'fighter'. I've always known that my parents were superheroes, that they were risking their lives everyday fighting for something else, something greater…and for all my life that I can remember, I wanted to go out with them, I wanted to be a hero too…but I never thought why to be a hero. I didn't know what I was supposed to be fighting for…, but I do now. I fighting to save my parents lives, and if that's not enough, than I don't know what is."

…

Her head felt like…a big, fuzzy weight. It ached in a dull sort of pain. She rolled her head on her shoulders and felt the back of her cranium thud lightly against a cold wall. She cracked her eyes narrowly open. Where was she?

It was dark, Raven could tell that. The room was solid cement, she guessed. Her eyes wandered as they adjusted the lack of light, to a door, on the wall 90 degrees from where she sitting rather slouched over. A door with only a small bar window at the top. What this a cell? A prison? A dungeon? How did she get here…? A few flashed of memories snapped through her mind…the attack! Where's Gar? Where's Kaden?...

'Calm down, Rae, calm down. You can figure a way out of this…why am in a straight jacket?' the empathic woman thought, as she weakly tugged at her arms.

A moan interrupted her struggles. There was someone else in the cell. Raven's eyes found a figure in the shadows off the opposite side of the room. A woman…with red hair.

"Star…" Raven managed to whisper, surprised by how dry her mouth was. Starfire too seemed to be on the edge of consciousness.

Raven wanted reach into her consciousnesses to pull out her powers. A sharp pain went through her head. She couldn't concentrate and if she couldn't concentrate, she couldn't use her powers. At least not in a way that would get her out of here and not possibly maim the other occupant in the room.

Her head began pounding in a rhythmic way that was slowly increasing in loudness…wait, that wasn't her head (although her head was in much pain) that was footsteps. Three pairs of them, if she was discerning right.

"Richard…" said Starfire in small whisper across the room.

The footsteps paused in front of the cell door before it was opened. A little light leaked in from the open doorway and two people entered the cell, but the light silhouetted them made it impossible to identify them. The third man, tall, bulky, and muscular, stood in the doorway with his arms crossed as if to stop any escape attempts.

Of the two other men, as much as silhouettes would allow her to tell, one was short, small, lanky, and possibly wearing googles or glasses of some sort. He was either an awesome meta-human or really smart, because he sure didn't seem to have the brawn. The other man was of medium height, on the shorter side, but not as short as the scrawny guy, portly (and that was the nice way of saying it) wearing on overcoat and had long hair.

They went over to Starfire first. Raven wanted to protest, wanted to tell them to leave her the hell alone, demand of them what was going on, or zap them with her soul-self, but she couldn't. As much as she wanted to turn violently against this people, something was preventing her.

The fat man blocked her view of Starfire. "This is better than _Clash of the Planets_: _The Lost Episode_," said the fat guy followed by cackling laughter.

'Control Freak,' thought Raven, because speaking was too difficult at the moment. 'What is that loser doing here?'

Memories rushed back to her...Kaden and the two Grayson kids and…Victor?...Madam Rogue. Madam Rogue was behind this, but Rogue is dead…

Before she was able to discern what this all meant her hair was grabbed roughly and her head was pulled to the side. The short man, he was wearing glasses, and a lab coat, and latex gloves, and was carrying a syringe. Either he was a doctor or a mad scientist.

She felt the pain of a pin prick on the side of her neck and a few seconds later her mind was growing blank, despite how hard she was struggling against it. None of it made sense.

…

1 Soul-self— in the comics, Raven's black energy/magic stuff is often referred to as her soul-self. Although they never refer to it such in the cartoon, there is a part in the first episode with the t-car and it gets stolen and overdrive takes it over and Cyborg has to explode it…That Raven says she understands why Cyborg considers the car his 'baby' cuz he put so much work into it because she has to put a put of her self, her soul, into anything she uses her powers on…

2 not the beast

3 Yes, I know that heroine (as in female hero) and heroine (as in the drug) are spelled the same way.

About how I refer to the Titans in the narrative (the narrative is anything but the dialogue). Earlier in the fic, I referred to the characters by there real names (ex. Garfield or Gar, Richard or Dick, Kori, Raven her real name is Raven, although she does adopt the name Rachael as a secret identity, her real name is still Raven). However, in much as this chapter I referred to them by there superhero names (Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire…). I have a reason, when they are living as normal people, the narrative refers to their real names. When they are acting as superheroes or whatnot, as such in this chapter, they are referred to by their superhero identities. Cyborg has always been Cyborg and not Victor because he is living as a superhero 24-7 basically. The kids will always be referred to by their real names due to them not having superhero names (but they will adopt ones by the end of the story, I already have them picked out). Exceptions to this rule occur, such as in the last section of this chapter, when the story is through a particular character's perception and how they see that person. (Raven referred to Kori as Starfire thus the narrative referred to her as Starfire). I don't know if anyone cares, but I just wanted you to know why I did what I did.

Anyway, don't review...ha, ha, reverse psychology...


	17. Findings

Aki- So, new chapter. And it is the first chapter thatI have written and am uploading on my first and brand new laptop!! No more sharing a computer with my little brother, woohoo!! Now that that is done, hope you like this chapter, not so much action as last time, but some...uh, findings are, uh, found?...Anyway, thanx to Tenshi my counterpart in crime for betaing this chapter and belated thanx to her on last chapter where she gave my fight sequence a face lift.

Now, on with the show, er, story...

**Chapter 17:** **Findings**

In three separate sleeping bags on the gym floor slept three teenagers who had superpowers. That sentence contains a lie. Yes, there were three teens, and yes, there were three sleeping bags. The teens eve had superpowers. No, the lie was that none of them were a sleep, but instead were just laying there, pretending, or hoping, that sleep would release them from the stress of the day prior.

Alex had much too much on his mind to even think about getting any shut-eye. He kicked Kaden through his sleeping bag.

The boy groaned. "What?"

"I want to ask you something," said Alex.

Halle propped herself up on her elbow on the other side of Alex. "Ask him what?"

"Yeah, ask me what?"

"It's something that I've been wondering about for a while now. And our parents never told us, I didn't even think to ask at the time. It was all so new…"

"Get on with it," Halle said, nudging her brother.

"Why did the Titans break up? Kay, do you know."

Kaden sighed. "No."

"No? But you've know that your parents had been superheroes your whole life."

"I know, Al, but…I was surprisingly slow on…all the Titans stuff. I mean, even In my earliest memories I knew my parents had powers and were out there fighting the 'bad guys'…but it was only when I grew older that I started wondering about their pasts and learned of the Titans and then, started wondering why the Titans were no longer Titans or at least people who caught up with each other every now and then…"

"But all those stories you knew…Cyborg's nicknames…?" said Halle In question.

"Of course, I got curious. I asked questions and my parents told me stories. About missions and villains and falling in love and roommate problems…but never what happened to make it all stop. I asked once…I didn't get an answer. I don't think I could have handled one. They felt so sad…"

Alex and Halle glanced at each other unsure.

"So you don't know anything at all?"

"Calm down on the superlatives. I know a lot of stuff…just not anything about this particular subject…"

"Get off of the technicalities and just say that you don't know squat."

"Actually I do know Squat. He has an excellent sense of humor."

"Sorry, I didn't know that. He never mentioned you before."

"That's Squat for you."

At this point Alex and Kaden broke into quiet **peals** of laughter.

"I don't know what is going on," said Halle. "But you guys are giving me a headache. I'm going to try to go back to sleep."

"Me too," piped up Kaden.

"Wait a minute, I still haven't gotten the answer to my question," said Alex, indignant.

"Just ask Cyborg in the morning," said Halle, her voice obscured by her pillow. "And if he doesn't want to tell…we are three annoying and persistent teenagers."

"Annoyingly persistent or persistently annoying?" question Kaden, flat on his back staring at the ceiling.

"Does it matter? We still have the upper hand either way."

…

Cyborg's sensors detected three human bodies approaching from behind. Hishuman ear could tell it was the footsteps of the three teenagers who had taken resident with him for about a week so far. They hovered behind him without a word.

"Do you guys need something?" he finally asked, turning his head towards them.

The twins nudged Kaden forward as he wondered how he was bamboozled into doing this as this was Alex's question anyway. "Um, Scrap—, I mean, Cyborg…We have a question."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. If Kaden was using his real name, it had to be serious.

"Question away, Kay."

"Um," Kayden shuffled his feet and looked at the floor. "We were wondering if you could tell us why the Titans…y'know, broke up."

"You don't know, any of you?" asked Cyborg with surprise.

All three shook there heads to the negative.

Cyborg wiped a hand over his face. "I don't know if it my story to tell."

"It is as much your story as our parents," said Halle.

"Plus, it's not like we can ask them right now if we wanted to," added Alex.

Cyborg sighed in resignation. "Okay, I'll tell you. But it's not going to be what you expect. It didn't happen in one moment. It wasn't one word or one fight or one argument…it was more like…a slow deterioration.

"I can't pinpoint where it started. Maybe sometimes when we stopped being 'Teen Titans' and just became 'Titans'. We started growing up, and even though we were living in the same building, growing apart. I mean, think about it, when we were teenagers, living in that tower was any kid's dream. Large bedrooms, a giant entertainment system, a great garage, top of the line computers and whatever technology we needed, and none of it being a cent out of our own pockets…But we grew up and started forming lives outside of that tower, outside of being one team, the Titans, we formed closer relationships, that divided us. Star and Rob got married. BB and Rae's odd little relationship started turning into something romantic. The expansion of the sheer number of Titans opened us up top a whole lot of other friendships other than the ones formed between us, the original five…"

"What does that have to do with the team breaking up?" asked Halle. "Just because they weren't best friends anymore…It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't, but it's what happened. We weren't as close as we used to be and, I guess, maybe that it was a little easier to **sever** the ties of friendship that way…No, that's a lie, after knowing people for that long, being friends with them, working with them, saving their lives and them saving yours…it wasn't easier."

"Okay, okay," interrupted Halle. "I'm confused. I get that the team was 'deteriorating' or whatever, but when did people actually, you know, leave?"

"I know it's confusing," Cyborg replied. "I told it wasn't going to be what you expected. We were fighting a villain…Doctor Light. He's kind of a joke, but anyone can be dangerous when you're caught off guard. Starfire, your mother, got hurt in the fight. It was minor, especially with her alien psychology, but…it made Robin very anxious and upset. And they left, without any real explanation except they were done being Titans, they were done being superheroes, because it wasn't worth the risk. It didn't sound like Robin at all. Then, eight months later, you two were born."

"So, our parents left to protect us," said Halle.

"As much as they were willing to put themselves in the line of fire, they weren't willing to put you two."

For some reason Alex felt uneasy at the revelation of this fact.

"BB, Raven, and I were able to handle Jump okay without them for a while, but crime increased just because the criminals thought it the city would be easier now that two of its protectors were no-shows. We were forced to bring in reinforcements, and we had plenty of new young heroes and honorary Titans to choose from and who were excited for the job. So we brought in some new blood, took 'em under our wings, trained them how to worked on a team. They were good kids…but it wasn't the same. Over time a few more younger heroes joined the team. It was then that Gar and Rae decided that the abundance of teenagers was having a damper on their personal relationship and they moved out of the tower. They stayed in the city and promised to be there to help whenever the Titans needed it…, but most of the time they followed their own leads…which eventually lead out of Jump City. They stayed in contact…for a while.

"God, I know I've made myself seem innocent in this whole break up, but I wasn't. I got really upset when Robin and Starfire left. My temper, which is not the best at times, was on the edge. But when Beast Boy and Raven left too, that was too much. Beast Boy was my best friend, I guess I felt it was a personal insult when the two of them left. I wasn't exactly open to asking them to help with the Titans and wasn't exactly congenial when they tried to be sociable. And the new team of Titans didn't last long after all of that…"

"That just seems so…," started Kaden, pausing in search for a word, "…lame."

"I know. But sometimes people just grow apart…and it hurts just as much as if we had said the wrong things and everything blew apart. Because at least then there would have been a semblance of a reason, instead we were good friends that just…drifted apart."

"That sucks," announced Alex.

"I know," agreed Cyborg.

…

"How much do you three know about computers?"

"I can hold my own."

"Ha, everything."

"Does email count?"

Cyborg surveyed the three teens, considering their varied answers.

"Halle," he said directing her to a seat in front of many monitors and screens. "I need you on monitor duty. Look out for suspicious activity, the Strike or otherwise. We can't neglect the rest of the city just because we have a vendetta." Halle nodded in understanding, her face getting stern.

"Kaden, if you can hold your own, then I need you check the records of any incoming flights, buses, trains…whatever. Find anything that doesn't match up or seems to be marked by the Strike. You can probably identify them best seeing as you've followed them the longest."

"Can do."

"Alex, what did you mean by everything?"

"Do you want to know what's in Area 51?"

"You and me areteaming up on the main computer," said Cyborg, pointing to the big screen and computer consoles on the wall adjacent to where Halle and Kaden were situated. "Our task is three fold. One, we field any of the leads those two give us. Two, we need to hack into highly protected frequencies, to try and find how the Strike is communicating."

Alex stood there for a moment. "Um, isn't there a third thing…?"

"Yeah, uh," Cyborg lowered his voice to a hushed tone. "Can you, maybe, update my protection…you hacked it so easily."

Alex interlaced his fingers and cracked his knuckles. "Let's get to work."

A few tireless hours passed. Halle rubbed her eyes, worn from monitoring screens incessantly.

"How's it going?" said Cyborg on one of his routine check-ups.

"Nothing but some street crime. I contacted the police like you said," answered Halle.

"How is it with you and the police anyway?" asked Kaden.

"Well…"

"That didn't sound very confident."

"Let's just stay my presence in this city sort of steps on the ego of the police force."

"What does that mean?" questioned Kaden.

"They are not exactly happy that they need a cape (1) in their city, because they have this pride that they can handle it without intervention from a 'vigilante.' I sort of have their grudging respect. We don't work together and they certainly don't field me any work, but their not trying to stop me either."

Kaden pursed his lips while contemplating the situation. "It works."

"Yeah, but it's different from being on the Titans, in the spotlight all the time."

"A big 'T' in the middle of ocean isn't exactly subtle."

"Yeah, yeah…get back to work, kid."

"Oh, yeah, just so you know…someone just came back to life," added Kaden, very blasé.

"What?" said Cyborg and Halle simultaneously. Alex would have joined them if he had heard, but he was too consumed with monitoring highly graded radio frequencies with headphones over his ears.

"There was a flight that came in from Canada several months ago into the local airport. The dude on the passport…I looked it up, he died over ten years ago."

"What tipped you off to looking on the lifespan of this passport out of the millions of people with passports?" asked Cyborg.

"Because of this," said Kaden, typing a few keys on the keyboard and a scan of the passport showed on the screen."

"Isn't that—?" began Halle, but she was interrupted by Cyborg growl, "Adonis."

"That robot-suit guy from the break-in," said Kaden. "I thought I recognized him."

"His passport was a forgery using a dead man's identity," said Cyborg. "He must have been hiding in Canada to evade the law."

"Uh, I get the impression that you knew him…"

"He was an old foe of the Titans. Not a giant threat, but annoying…Kaden, can you send this to my computer? I need to try something."

"Will do."

"How's it going?" Cyborg asked Alex as he passed where the boy was seated on the way to his computer. Alex grunted in response.

The files from Kaden's computer popped up on Cyborg's screen. His finger began typing furiously. Kaden, instead of returning to work, stood behind Cyborg's chair, mouth agape at the speed of the half-robot's work. Halle glanced over her shoulder a couple times and Alex was still oblivious.

"Look at the travel plans of our dead guy," said Cyborg as a list of dates and airports for Adonis's acquired idenity played out on the screen. "Look familiar?"

"Jump City, Steele City, Central City, Metropolis, Gotham…Those are where the Strike, um, struck."

"Yup, and he's been back in this city, but we already knew that. The question is why did he fly to this city to start with. Does that mean the Strike met here?" Cyborg questioned aloud.

"I thought their HQ was in Gotham, seeing as everywhere else was hit and run to gain attention. That's the only place they laid low for a little while," reasoned Kaden.

"Think about it," said Halle from across the room, garnering Cyborg's and Kaden's attentions. "They have to have a set up here. Their henchman are here. Our parents are here. And the means to controlling our parents are here. I doubt whoever the mastermind of this project will let the cards in their hands being hundreds of miles away from himself and their headquarters…so the headquarters has to be in this city…or at least one of them."

"Are you saying they have two?"

"Yeah, one in Gotham and one here. Where my parents lived and where Cyborg lives."

"What about my parents?"

"You're parents move around, so they just lured to them where they had already set up shop," explained Halle with a shrug.

"Hal," said Cyborg, speaking for the first time since Halle began her dissertation, "That's really smart."

"Just because I don't know computer doesn't mean I don't got brains."

"_Have,_" said Alex, making them all jump because they were used to his obliviousness to their conversation. "I don't _have_ brains," he corrected.

"I know you don't," retorted Halle swiftly.

Alex scowled.

Kaden sighed. "But this doesn't get us anywhere closer to our parents. We already knew they were being held captive nearby somewhere."

"And we still don't know where somewhere is," added Halle. Alex had already returned to his work.

Kaden returned dejectedly to his computer seat. "All that work and still nothing…"

"Don't give up hope," lectured Cyborg from across the room. "We now know that the Strike is getting sloppy, or at least some of their members are. There have to be more concrete trails to the Strike yet."

A relieved look overtook Kaden face and he returned frantically back to work.

Alex looked askew at the metal man beside him. He lowered his headphones a few inches off his ear. "You really believe that?" he said in a skeptical whisper.

Cyborg glanced at Kaden and then back to Alex and replied quietly. "He has to."

A few more hours tireless hours passed. Halle was resting her head on her folded arms on the desk, half asleep, staring at the screen. Kaden rubbed his eyes, weary and glazed, before idly typing a few keys. Alex face, usually pinched in concentration, was interrupted with a yawn. Even Cyborg's human half was feeling strain.

"Maybe we should call it a night. We're not going to find anything useful half asleep," suggested Cyborg, more for the kids' sakes than his.

"More like two-thirds asleep," suggested Halle.

"Na," disagreed Kaden, "Three-fourths."

"Nine-tenths."

"Ninety eight-one hundredths."

"Ninety eight?"

"Well, ninety-nine seemed a little extreme."

The crew was getting up from their seats and stretching, ready to move to their respective sleeping areas, all except Alex.

"Time for sleep, Al," said Cyborg, placing a hand on the young teen's shoulder, realizing he probably hadn't heard their conversation due to still having headphones on.

Alex lifted one earpiece up. "Huh?"

"We're going to sleep."

Alex shook his head to the negative. "I'm getting close to something. I can feel it."

"Its call delusions brought on from lack of shut-eye," said Kaden snarkily.

Not even trying for sarcastic reply, Alex turned back to the computer. "I'm serious. I'm on the edge of something. Trust me. Here." Alex pulled his headphones wire out of the console and turned the volume that everyone could here.

"It's…static," said Halle, less than impressed.

Alex rolled his eyes and tweaked a few of the sound controls. "I've been tuning this frequency for over an hour. It's been tricky. Listen now."

All three were surprised to hear snippets of conversation coming in through white noise.

"Is that the Strike?"

"Owing to how difficult it was to get to this frequency, it has to be…or it could be someone's ancient ham radio…"

"Why couldn't it be the government?" asked Halle.

"I accessed all those this morning."

Kaden and Halle shared a glance. Sometimes it was freaky how talented Alex was with computers.

"I just need to get it coming in stronger. Then it won't even matter what they say if we know it's them. All that matters if they stay on the line long enough for me to track them. But I need it stronger for that too."

Cyborg had already taken his seat again and had plugged a metal-plated wire from his arm into the console. The voices came in clearer and the static vanished completely.

Alex looked at the man next to him appraisingly. "You're good."

"I know." _"…so boring."_

_"Where are you on guard duty?"_

_"The cells."_

_"With the Titans down there, that's boring?"_

Halle, Kaden, Alex, and Cyborg jumped a little at the mention. Cyborg and Alex began working on their computers frantically.

_"There so drugged up I can't even taunt them. Some revenge."_

_One man chuckled. "Don't let _her_ here you say that…"_

_"Who knew someone so hot could be so menacing."_

_"She is a nice piece of ass."_

_"Now you don't let her hear _you_ say _that._" Both men laughed and the transmission cut off._

"Did you trace it?" asked Halle with batted breath.

Alex nodded, his hands where shaking a bit.

"Where?"

…

The Strike members, from the muscle to the brains, were assembled in Rouge's large "throne room" as most of them called it. Mostly because it was where their leader sat on a throne-like chair all of the time, well, all of the time they ever saw here. They were having a "meeting", but Rouge knew it was a joke. She allowed them because it gave them a belief in a semblance of control in the revenge plans, although she easily manipulated them to her will. Plus, the meetings proved to keep up morale and push thoughts of mutiny far away.

However, the group was assembled and the majority of them seemed less interested in getting there opinions heard then flexing their muscles and bragging about their recent conquests. Rogue through an irritated look at the man standing next to her seat.

"Everyone…Quiet!" The talking in the room slowly settled to a hush and the eyes settled to the front of the room.

Rogue cleared her throat in a dignified, assured way. " 'Owr, ah, scheme is coming along nicely. Soon all zee Titans will be in our clutches and our revenge will be complete."

There was some muted muttering throughout the crowd.

Madam Rogue raised a slender eyebrow in a beautiful yet dangerous way. "Is zere a probleme?"

The assembly shuffled uneasily.

"Non?"

One of the henchman was shoved forward by the others, unofficially elected the speaker of their complaint. Once in front of companions he stood straight and said defiantly, "The men were wonderin' what was taking so long. We was supposed to have all the Titans weeks ago."

"It sounds like you are blaming me for the cyborg not taking zee bait zee first time. Do I need to remind you that you would hav none of zee Titans if it were not me for organizing you and devizing zis operation."

By this time, the lackey's spokesperson was staring nervously at his feet. Rogue had a way of sounding menacing without even making a single threat. "It's just that..." "Yes?" said in a tone that should have been accompanied with rolling eyes.

"That we could have had Cyborg by now if we went with a direct attack. We out-muscle him easily, even with those brats with him. Why haven't we brought him in yet?"

Rogue laughed in an offhand way, like at the words of an overcurious toddler. "Ow much you still have to learn, my dear companion. Why should we go to them when zey will come to us?"

Her second-in-command standing by her throne, lets face it, it wasn't just a _throne-like_ chair, it was a throne, gave her a shocked look. Wasn't the base supposed to be secret? And wasn't it kept that way with the most stringent of precautions?

"I have recently dropped several fake identities of some of our members into travel records around the world. Plus a loop of recorded social conversations off that took place on our missions-only communicators…" The crowd was uneasy again. "Yes, I am …familiar with what you say about moi…I suspect the cyborg and zee, what did vous say, _brats_, will be here within a day or dou."

…

(1) cape—in DC comics "cape" or "capes" (plural) are slang terms that are thrown around referring to superheroes, the reason, I think, is obvious.


	18. Too Quiet

**Aki-** So, this is the next chapter. It is kinda short. Kinda crappy. Kinda not that interesting...well, its okay in places. Anyway, Tenshi betaed this although she admits that she hadn't done it as well as she has the last few chapters, so any mistakes you can blame on her, lol. I am updating from my college dorm room...I'm so old. I've been at my orientation the last few days. It's fun and scary and exciting and nerve-wraking (sp?) all in one. I am majoring in Creative Writing and I am, by request, in the smallest Freshman dorm on campus which is considered the quietest and also has a lot of writing majors in it. Part of that might be because the writing offices are in our basement. Anyway, S.U. represent! Ah, I'm such a poser.

**Chapter 18: Too Quiet**

"An abandoned military facility, could they be any more unoriginal?"

"What about an abandoned factory or…oh, oh, an abandoned _warehouse_!"

"Apparently they could," Alex replied to Kaden's excited exclamations.

At this point in their conversation Halle rolled her eyes and Cyborg shushed them. They were on the outskirts of the city, hiding behind a conveniently placed boulder, surveying the only known entrance to the abandoned military facility that research had shown was built during the Cold War, and spread in extravagant tunnels under the northern edge of the city. The most they had seen was a pair of people entering the facility from the west about a half an hour ago, and a solitary guard who was nodding off next to the door.

"Alex, do you think you could get those doors open?"

Alex touched the handheld computer tucked into a pocket on his belt. "You bet."

" Halle, Kaden, you need to take out that guard, quickly - and _quietly_. This is not a time to go in guns blazing. This is a time for finesse."

Kaden tried to resist the urge to giggle at the word 'finesse.' One, because it was a funny word and, two, because Cyborg - an over six-foot-tall half-robot with a cannon for an arm - was talking about finesse.

"What are you gonna do?" asked Halle .

"Cover. Now, Titans Go!"

Kaden, Halle , and Alex stared at Cyborg blankly.

"Um, I mean, let's get to…it…."

They continued to stare.

"What are you trying to say?" said Kaden, his eyes narrowed.

"I mean, let's do the respective things that we were all just assigned," stated Cyborg.

"You could have said that to begin with," Alex shot back.

"Let's just go, already."

The three teens nodded. Halle joined Kaden on a floating disk of soul-self and they zoomed off towards the guard. Alex leaped over the rock and took a running start off to the control panel at the side of the door. The guard was out with a few select moves from Halle and didn't make a sound due to Kaden's telekenesis bubble. Cyborg turned and surveyed the area behind their hiding place before joining the rest of the team across the field.

Alex was already plugged in and well on his way to completing his task.

"What's taking so long?" asked Kaden in impatience.

"Opening the door is a snap, but I want to block it from the main computer, so no one comes to check out why it opened. Plus, I'm downloading the schematics of the building, y'know, so we know where to go, and don't just wander around aimlessly - which apparently was your idea of a plan," Alex rattled off without ever taking his eyes away from the screen of his mini computer.

"It was just a question," Kaden retorted defensively.

A second later the front door slid open and the team of four slipped silently inside.

"Good job, team," said Cyborg, arm transformed into a sonic cannon in preparation for any enemy attack. "Al, where are we going from here?"

Alex flicked through the facility's plans. "Well, we're here," he said, pointing a finger at what must have been where they just entered. "Some of these tunnels and rooms aren't even being used and a lot are damaged or cut off due to erosion and floods and the changing infrastructure in the city over the last few decades."

"So…?"

"The center of activity is located deep in the southwest area of the facility…a little bit of a walk."

"Then let's start walkin'."

Alex took the forefront of the group, Kaden and Halle stood shoulder to shoulder in the middle, their breaths sounding loud in the dark, echo-y tunnel. Cyborg stood last, like a big, protective bodyguard shadowing them.

A few winding turns later, the group paused and listened, and heard voices - not any of theirs. They were coming from the tunnel curve up ahead. They all paused in horror, waiting for their cover to be blown.

"Back up," said Halle in a loud whisper. "Back up!"

The all followed her command, backpedaling, trying to be both quick and silent.

"In here," said Halle , leading them into a side tunnel, half blocked by a fallen roof. Sufficiently hidden, ducked behind the rubble or backs pressed against the wall, they waited, trying to stifle their labored breathing. Two men walked by, apparently oblivious to the intruders.

"And I was like, 'That's what she said.'"

The two broke out in rough laughter and passed by the foursome's hiding place and disappeared around the bend. They four stayed silent and hidden for minutes after the men's disappearance, their heartbeats slowly returning to normal. Halle's hands were shaking.

"Your fast thinking saved our butts," said Cyborg. "Good work, Hal."

She nodded. "We could have taken them, but, y'know, finesse."

"Let's hope that was a one time thing," said Alex, observing his computer, sounding exasperated.

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Kaden, looking over Alex's shoulder.

"There is a stretch right before the center room that is completely straight, with no break off tunnels, not even collapsed ones."

"And you were going to tell us that when?" demanded Kaden.

"I hoped it wasn't going to become relevant."

"Well, it did."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious."

"You're welcome."

For all the times that Kaden and Alex were terse with each other, their friendship never seemed to come out worse for the wear.

"So what do we do?" asked Halle.

"Hope it's clear and cross our fingers for luck."

"Nice plan."

"Shut up, Kaden."

"If we come up against anyone, we'll just have to fight," said Cyborg.

"Let's go…"

After waiting for a moment, straining their ears to make sure that no one else was coming down the tunnel, they slinked out of their hiding place and continued their light-footed journey.

Strangely, the hallway - despite being the only path to and from the main room - was lacking all foot traffic. The group of four was able to make their way unhindered to the forthcoming entrance.

"It's really quiet in here," said Halle in a light whisper that seemed to travel in echoes down the enclosed hall.

"Yeah," agreed Kaden, "Too quiet."

"I didn't expect getting this far would be so easy," added Cyborg.

"Yeah," agreed Kaden, "Too easy."

"Will you cut that out!" Alex growled through his teeth and Kaden just gave him a wide-eyed, 'I-have-no-idea-what-you-are-talking-about-I-am-completely-innocent' look.

The steel door which they all could safely assume lead the main room came into clear sight as they went around the final twist of the tunnel. They stopped before it.

"We're here," said Halle.

"Oh, really," snapped Alex.

She just glared him down and said, "Can you open it?"

Unable to come up with a snarky response Alex just replied with as much ire as possible, "…Yes."

Halle waved a hand at the door as if to say, do what you must. Alex approached the control panel and began his work.

"Get ready," said Cyborg, clicking a few buttons on the controls on his arm. "It's near impossible that this room will be empty, too."

Halle was bouncing on the balls of her feet as if warming up and shaking out her nerves for an athletic contest. Kaden was repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fists.

Alex looked up from his hand-held computer screen. "Ready."

None dared to speak, they just nodded. Alex released his final command and the door slide open to reveal complete darkness.

They superhero group entered tentatively, eyes peeled. Once all were in, not going past the outline of light left by the opening, the door slammed shut, showering them in total darkness. Cyborg's flashlight in his shoulder came on, but in a few seconds it was futile as the lights in the room came on so intensely that all four had to shield their eyes.

A crackly voice reverberated around the room, joined by deep snickers and sneers.

"Honestly," said a heavily accented woman's tone, "You would sink none of ou had h'rd of a trap before."


	19. How to Win: Part 1

**AKi- **Heh, heh, hey guys, I'm back. (ducks in fear of stuff being thrown at her head) Okay, you know all those annoying fanfic authors who are always like, 'I'm at college, so I couldn;t write for a while cuz I'm so busy blah de blah blah bla...' Well, it is all true. I thought I wouldn't be one of them. But then it got busy, and I am a creative writing major and I had intro to fiction class, and all of my creative energies were used for that class. Also, I got friends in college (that's not fair, I had friends in high school...two...what, all my friends were in the class above me so by the time I was a senior...) anyway, I have a lot of friends and we hang out a lot and...I'm sorry, OKAY? I'm sorry. I made you all watch for months over a cliffhanger...Well, here's the chapter...

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**Chapter 19: How to Win Part 1**

The first thing he felt was something cold and solid and flat against the side of his face. He opened his eyes and the world was tilted ninety degrees sideways. He was lying on the floor. He pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Kaden!" called a voice from behind him and he turned. It was Halle, standing with Alex and Cyborg, but they were all separated by a cage. Kaden stood and surveyed his surroundings as he walked over to them. It was a large grid-like cage, separated into four different sections. Four sections for four Titans. They were united by a corner in the middle.

"What's going on?" Kaden asked.

"They ambushed us, as soon as we entered the room," said Cyborg. "They drugged us. We woke up here."

"We walked straight into a trap," growled Alex; his hands were gripped into fists.

"It's not your fault," Halle said.

"I lead us here. I found the information. I should have been able to see through the trick. I should have been able to—"

"Alex," Halle cut off her brother with a loud voice. "We all wanted to find them, you were just the one who happened to find the information they laid out to lure us in."

"Yeah, man," said Kaden. "This isn't your fault."

"It's none of ours." That was Cyborg. "And we can't dwell on that. We need to figure a way out of here. Or at least what they want us for—"

"Oh, I can tell you zat," said a smooth four turned simultaneously to face Madam Rouge, standing on the gallery half way up the wall, flanked by two nondescript men in the shadows. She was leaning forward on the railing, smirking. "Revenge, plain and simple. My associates are here for various reasons: revenge, protection, reputation, even love. It is why we are all driven to do zee things we do…"

"Rouge," Cyborg growled. "Stop stringing us along."

"Oh, you want me to - how do you say, 'cut to the chase?' Very well then." The French woman pushed away from the railing and turned to one of the men. "Bring zem in." The man in the shadows exited by the gallery door by the corner. The four in the cages glanced at each other, but stayed silent. They had a shared fear and hope.

Moments later a door slide open on the floor level. Out walked eight people, four former Titans – dressed in their black outfits, eyes glazed and emotionless—each with a guard leading them.

"Let them go," Halle demanded loudly, forcing her eyes away from her brainwashed parents to Madam Rouge.

"Oh, now zat vou asked," the woman replied sarcastically.

"What do you want, Rouge?" Cyborg bellowed.

"I already told vou. Revenge. The Titans ruined my life, my career, everything I worked for. Do you zink that I was just going to let it go? You kids put your own lives at stake when you came after zem.. It works for moi, but you were not part of zee original plan."

"How's this revenge?" Alex questioned, but unlike Halle his eyes never once wavered from his parents' path. The guards separated the four Titans and led them to the separate door of each cage.

"These Titans are drugged. You've seen the effect already. They can fight just as well, but they are not themselves, non, I control their highly suggestive state…Yet, when zis superdrug wears off, they remember…everything. Won't it be horrible," said Rouge slowly as the doors to each cage opened and Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy, were pushed in, "If they have to remember _killing_ zier own children? Won't that be tragic?"

The cage doors slammed shut.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved. Originally they were just supposed to wreak havoc across zee country, maybe zee world, not for long, but enough…to make zem into monsters in eyes of everyone, to destroy everything zey ever stood for. Then we'd kill zem, if zee drugs didn't tear zem apart first. Prolonged use would be bad for the health, it seems. Oh, well."

While Rouge finished her monologue, villains and henchmen had filed in along the gallery, which spanned all four walls of the rom. The shouted and jeered, like deranged and malicious spectators at a zoo.

"What a show zis will be," Rouge said and she never had sounded quite as cruel and diabolical as in that moment. "Titans," she yelled, "Kill your enemy."

And with those finals words, four separate fights began.

…

Alex's eyes widened as his father began to approach. He backed up a few paces, but there was not much room for him to. The cage wall was just a foot behind him.

"Dad," he said quietly, but there was no response from the man he called father. No expression on his stoic face. Alex was silently glad that he did not have to see the empty eyes behind his father's mask.

"Dad," he repeated. The man took a running charge at him, a karate yell escaping his mouth. Alex only barely managed to turn out of the range of his hit. But Robin's training was too advanced for his son to be out of danger with one dodge. He turned his momentum from the run into a high kick. Alex jumped back, missed a foot to the head, but still got clipped on the shoulder, throwing him off balance. He stumbled into the cage wall, only managing not to end up on his knees by gripping the screen-like cage bars with his fingers.

"Fly, dammit," he heard Halle yell as he got a glance of red hair whipping by. His mother was in the air. Halle must be experiencing the difficulty of fighting someone who was in flight. Flight, however, was still something he barely had a handle on. He needed some extreme joy to fly and this was not exactly the situation to be feeling 'extreme joy.'

As knee came up to meet his gut, Alex decided he could not stand around thinking for too long in this situation. He grabbed his stomach as he keeled over in pain. He turned his fall into a not so glamorous roll out of the way of his father's foot. His martial arts skills were very basic, barely an issue against an expert like his father. He could not keep dodging and defending for long with the way the hits were coming. But he could not fly out of the way. That left…_no, I'm not going to starbolt my own father_. But it was his only option…_I could not even get one out right now even if I tried_…

That left him with martial arts, the first thing he had crossed off of his list. It was his only choice, and it was suicide. He had to do it.

Alex got to his feet, a hand clenched into a first by his side. The drugs had to wear off sometime, maybe he could delay until then…hopefully.

…

Halle knew from the second that her mother walked into her cage that she was doomed. Her mother could fly, shoot stuff from her hands and eyes, and had super strength to match hers. Halle was, arguably, better at hand-to-hand combat, but that mattered very little when her mother was hovering above her reach. The woman's eyes glowed green and glowing orbs formed around her fists.

"Oh, shit," she swore under her breath. She was a sitting duck. Her mother shot a starbolt and Halle somersaulted out of the way, quickly regaining her feet afterward. She saw the smoking scorch mark on the floor before looking up to see her mother swivel in mid-air. Halle shifted her weight to the balls of her feet, ready to move at a moment's notice. Starfire shot a row a swift starbolts and Halle was forced to run to the opposite side of the cage. She saw Alex get hit by her father and yelled without thinking, "Fly dammit!"

She could not stop moving now, because her mother was throwing starbolts without a pause. She ran to one side of the cage going intentionally underneath her mother before rolling into the corner in avoidance of another shot. It was like a high stakes game of dodge ball. Halle knew she could handle this for a bit more, but she could feel her heart beating faster, her breaths coming in shorter gasps…she knew her mind-controlled mother could last doing what she was doing much longer than Halle could.

She needed to come up with a plan.

…

Kaden barely had barely a few seconds to calm his nerves and prepare himself before his mother struck. When not of their own mind and not harboring emotions, their power must be easier to use. She shot a wide band of black energy at Kaden. He quickly conjured a thin slice of his own energy, cutting his mother's attack in two and negating it on either side of him.

Kaden glanced about the cage even though he knew what his deductions would be. There was nothing there for either of them to levitate or throw at each other. This would be a pure hand to hand and soulself fight. Kaden and Raven had exactly the same abilities, but she was a hell of a lot better at using hers.

Raven's hands glowed black and Kaden prepared by doing the same. The two circled, slowly, in classic sword-fight style, Kaden noted. He had never 'fought' his mother before, she had trained him to use his powers, to control them, to embrace them, but not for…this. Almost too lost in his own thoughts he managed to only dodge a shot of black energy thrown at him. In an adrenaline rush, he shot a bolt of dark energy back. His mother easily evaded, but Kaden stared. He had just attacked his own mother without a second thought.

_It was defensive_, his brain argued_. And she is not in her own mind. Plus, it wouldn't have really hurt her at all...and…I have to…_

…

Cyborg knew Madam Rouge was evil, and as mysterious and surprising as her return had been he had never pegged her as cruel, even beyond cruel, sadistic. She had paired each of the teens with one of their own parents, and him with his former best friend. It would have been extremely difficult for him to have fought any of the former Titans, but Beast Boy—Gar, Grass Stain, Salad Head—this was impossible.

Cyborg assessed the situation. Cage was fairly roomy, but small enough that it would limit the types of large animals Beast Boy could transform into. The t-rex was definitely out, thankfully. However, Beast Boy was not thinking about turning into a ferocious dinosaur, rather he transformed into a large bull, with two twisted and vicious horns on its head.

The bull charged. Cyborg braced himself for the impact, hands up and his weight shifted to the balls of his feet. The bull came and Cyborg caught him by the horns, digging his feet into the floor as the two collided. He was being pushed back, a stumble at first and then slowly, by centimeters. It didn't matter. The bull's momentum was lost. Cyborg put all his strength into twisting and throwing the bull sideways by the horns. It worked. Beast Boy turned back into his human form and tumbled onto the ground and into the cage wall.

He jumped lithely to his feet, not fazed at the least. He transformed into a hawk and took flight, circling overhead in the enclosed space. The hawk drove, talons aimed to scratch at the natural side of his face. Cyborg threw up his arms to protect himself.

It was a trick. In the last moments of the dive Beast Boy transformed into a billy goat, kicking his hooves into Cyborg. He fell back onto the floor. His fists tightened in anger. No, not at Beast Boy, he knew it was not his fault, but…Anger…determination…a little bit of despair…all four were feeling it. They had to win, but they didn't know how. They were being forced to play Madam Rouge's game.

And none of them knew how to win.

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Thanks to Tenshi for reading this and proofing it (any mistakes are her fault), and the Smallville episode Cyborg that got me happy about Cyborg...cuz he was in it..., and all the readers who have stuck with me without putting a hit on me (and dude, seriously, I can't finish the story if I am dead).


	20. How to Win: Part 2

**Aki- **Did you know I actually wrote this chapter back in January, but it did not get edited until now. Sorry... Hope you enjoy.

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**Chapter 20: How to Win Part 2**

Kaden blocked a soulself, black energy attack from his mother by conjuring a shield that he crouched behind. He expanded it as his mother's consistent onslaught of soulself was fired at him. He repositioned himself, crouching catlike, to give himself the most power. Slowly, he stood as he expanded his thin wall of black energy and then with a sudden motion of his arms, pushed it forward. It failed to do its intended trick, to push Raven off balance and temporarily stop her. However, it did momentarily stop her onslaught as she had to slice a hole in his wall with her own energy.

Kaden surmised that this fight would contain he and his mother shooting their powers at each other. They had nothing else to throw at each other using their telekinesis-like abilities. He powered-up, his black energy dwelling on the edge of his fingertips as he waited for Raven's next attack. However, he had forgotten to factor in that their shared powers could be used to grab the other. And that was exactly what happened. Raven seemed to have smartened up to the fact that she was getting nowhere with her current strategy.

Kaden was surprised, to say the least, when he was yanked into the air by his mother's powers around his ankle like by a lasso. He hung upside-down and uselessly in the air, blood rushing to his head. _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ he berated himself. He should have been able to see a move like this coming, should have been prepared…should have done it first…?

His mother was coming at him, her cool face more expressionless than he had ever seen it before. He couldn't escape, he couldn't get a handle on his powers; his heart was beating so fast from the shock. He needed to calm down. But his mother was coming closer and he was a helpless victim to anything she had in store for him, which, in her current state, could mean his death.

"Mom," he muttered before gulping slowly. His hands hung down, the tail of his white coat hanging behind his head like a canvas. He tried to slow his breathing. "Come on. You're stronger than this." She stood, eyes blank, her soulself forming the shape of an ominous bird behind her.

Kaden needed to get his powers back _now_.

"Mom, it's me. Kaden, you're son," the desperate boy said, locking eyes with her.

Then something happened he didn't expect. The raven-shape of energy dissipated and Kaden fell to the floor, his bond gone, in the same instance. The fraction of the second before he fell Kaden could have sworn he saw a flash of familiarity in her face. But when he looked up from the floor her eyes were blank yet again and she was preparing for her next attack.

Kaden was ready, putting up a quick shield as an onslaught of black energy came at him. Maybe others would have dismissed it, but Kaden knew what he saw.

"Mom, I know you're in there."

He glanced among his counterparts in the connecting cages, all locked in fierce battle. They were all going about it wrong.

…

Alex groaned as he was slammed into the cage wall. That was the result of him trying to fight his father in hand-to-hand combat. He twisted to try and get his arms out of his father's vice-like grip. His maneuver failed. His dad was just too strong, and with the cage at his back he had nowhere to properly move. He had only one option, one he had dismissed earlier. Righteous anger…righteous anger…Madam Rouge doing this to him…to his family. The mind-controlled Robin released one of Alex's arms as he pulled back a fist for a punch to the face. However, he never got a chance to swing his fist forward.

"Sorry, Dad," Alex whispered, his eyes turning a dark blue, his fists lighting up with power. The man was pushed back in a blast of starbolt energy. He tumbled head over feet on the floor. "I didn't want…I've never wanted to have to use these powers to…to hurt anyone," Alex paused and gulped, walking closer to his father's body in a heap on the ground. "You're not yourself. I have to stop you from doing something you're going to regret." He raised his hand, a starbolt lingering in his fingertips. Just strong enough to knock his father for a good while.

He hesitated. In that brief pause was enough time for Robin to regain himself. He knocked Alex's feet out from under using a kick while still lying on the ground. Then he hopped back onto his feet.

His foot collided painfully with the side of Alex's downed body. Alex grunted in pain as he curled up to protect himself. But that was the wrong reaction and he knew it. He was immobilizing himself in fear and pain. He wasn't fighting back, he wasn't defending himself, he wasn't even getting out of the way.

Alex grabbed Robin's foot with both hands as it came in for another kick and twisted it with all his strength. It caused the man to lose balance and fall. Alex took the chance to begin to scramble ungracefully away from his attacker. He scrambled all the way into the cage wall. Robin was already getting up and advancing. Alex gripped the cage behind him with his fingers, pushing his feet hard against the concrete ground, and pulled himself into a standing position.

His eyes glowed blue as his father approached. "Don't make me do it again." But even as he said it, he knew he had no choice.

…

Halle's breath was coming in hard gasps. That was what happened when you were sprinting around a cage, trying to avoid being fried by your mother's alien powers. But even as she tired and as she ran, Halle was coming up with a plan. The cage wasn't that high, so the mind-controlled Starfire could only fly so far and maneuver so much as she floated in their air. Mostly, she stayed in the center of the cage, firing down on Halle who was scurrying about like she was an insect about to be squashed. As Halle ran under her mother to avoid another string of starbolts she took special attention to how many inches the woman's feet hovered above her head. Half a foot, maybe even less…could Halle jump that high?…if she concentrated her super strength on her legs…she had to try…she couldn't keep running like this…

Halle skidded into a corner of the cage and turned back to the center sharply. She rested on her toes, like a runner at the start of a race. It was almost like everything seemed to slow down. Halle watched her mother turn in mid-air to face her, red hair whipping around, her eyes glowing green. Halle saw the starbolts form in Starfire's palms, one arm being drawn back to throw. Halle ran, and at the exact right moment, a few steps before she was under her mother, she jumped, pushing off her legs like a basketball player trying to make a slam dunk. She extended her right arm above her and then the left. Her hands made contact and tightened around Starfire's right ankle.

If a regular human had made such a move they probably would have been left dangling from Starfire's leg as she remained unfazed until she pulverized them. Luckily, Halle wasn't a regular. With her alien strength she was an equal to her mother and knocked her off course. She went down, banging first into the cage wall and then crumpling to the floor. Halle, taken along for the ride, also got affected by the wall and floor.

Bother were winded, a little bruised, but overall no worse for the wear. Halle regained her footing first for at least she had expected what was coming. Starfire was on her feet not long after. Halle had succeeded in getting her mother out of the air, making the playing field a bit more even. Now she just had to keep the ground woman grounded.

Halle rushed at her, pushing her into the cage wall. The way to keep her grounded was to keep her in tight hand-to-hand combat. Halle drew back a fist. "Sorry, Mom. It's for your own good."

…

Beast Boy snapped at Cyborg, vicious in his crocodile form. His jaws missed the man of metal by centimeters. Cyborg was strong, but he was not as lithe as his Titan counterpart and was having difficulty maneuvering in the limited space of the cage. However, a crocodile is not an animal known for its ability to turn quickly, and once Cyborg got behind the reptilian creature Beast Boy was forced to morph, giving Cyborg a moment to regather himself.

Beast Boy was briefly in his human form, only to turn around, before changing into a lion with a heavy green mane. He roared loudly, teeth bared, before jumping at Cyborg, claws out. He knocked the half-robotic man off of his feet and onto his back. Cyborg wrestled with the creature. The large feline's paws were wearing down on his chest and Cyborg was using all the strength in his arms to keep the ferocious beast's head - or, more importantly, teeth - away from his head.

Cyborg curled up his legs under the lion, moving his feet against his underbelly. He kicked the beast off him over his head. The lion banged into the cage wall with a lot of rattling. Cyborg rolled away and got to his feet. Beast Boy was on the floor, transformed back into his human form, but dazed, on his hands and knees.

Cyborg transformed his arm into his cannon on reflex. If it was any other dangerous threat, Cyborg would have at least shot a stunning blast at him while he was off guard. It wouldn't do any real harm, but that's not to say it wouldn't hurt. If it was anyone else…but it was Gar.

Beast Boy swayed a little uneasily as he got back onto his two feet, but he was quickly rehabilitating from recent hit. Soon his stance was steady and his body tense in a position ready to attack and defend. Cyborg kept his sonic canon trained on the green man, but he didn't shoot. This reminded too much of when Robin was in a forced apprenticeship to Slade.

"I don't want to hurt you, Grass Stain," Cyborg said. There was almost nothing harder than fighting one's own friends. He, Victor Stone, Cyborg, knew that too well.

Beast Boy, on the opposite side of the cage, transformed into a leopard, and crouched in a familiar feline position meaning he was preparing to pounce. Cyborg clenched his teeth and released a heavy breathe. His cannon transformed back into the hand. _Looks like I got to do this the hard way._

…

Kaden dodged a soulself attack from his mother, a long persistent beam. He quickly conjured a protective dome around himself. He tried to catch his breath; even more he was trying figure out what just happened. His mother had had him trapped. She could have killed him, like Madam Rogue had ordered. But something happened. She changed, for a moment, at least.

Kaden was straining to hold up the dome. It took a lot of energy. Maybe it was all a fluke, but he had to try to get through to his mother. He could feel his mother's attacks pause on his dome. She was tiring too. That was Kaden's chance.

He let his defenses drop, the dome melting away from the top. Raven was standing a few feet away, leaning heavy on the cage wall. Even in her mind controlled state she was not impenetrable to the weariness that the overuse of her powers gave her. Kaden took a step toward her. She looked like his mom again with her eyes closed, like she was meditating. Her eyes snapped open at the sense of his approach, perceiving him as a threat.

Kaden paused. She hadn't made to attack him again. That was a good sign. He hoped. He put his hands in front of him and took another slow step forward like approaching a cornered and frightened animal. "Mom."

She eyes glowed black and a second later the wind was knocked out him as he was pushed forcibly across the cage and into the adjacent wall. He groaned as he collapsed on the floor. He felt himself being kicked over so he lay flat on his back. Kaden saw his mother standing over him, her lips in a thin, straight line. She raised a fist full of black energy over his face and braced her son in place with a foot on his chest.

"Mom," he croaked out. "You don't have to do this." She stood over him still, menacing, but she had yet to make her attack, so Kaden kept talking. Everything his mother had ever taught him about their shared powers was that they were controlled by disciplining one's emotions. Madam Rouge may have taken over Raven's mind, but if she was using her powers, she still had control over her heart.

"Not only do you not have to do this. You don't want to do this. You don't want to hurt me. I know that."

The woman's arm was shaking, as if strained by trying to hold a heavy weight for too long. The body was fighting against itself.

"I know that," Kaden repeated. "Because you love me."

In the next moment Raven's black energy was released from her hand. Kaden flinched preemptively, but it dissipated in the air before hitting his face. The empathic boy noticed the weight of his mother's foot was gone from his chest. He pushed himself up on his elbows. Raven was on her knees in the middle of the cage, hands clutching either side of her head, face downcast. She must have stumbled back.

"Mom?" Kaden questioned, on his feet and approaching the downed woman. "Mom?" he repeated, even closer.

One of her hands flung out and he was pushed back against the cage wall again, but he remained standing. The move from his mother wasn't painful, it was just enough force to push him backwards. He wouldn't even call it defensive, because it dropped as soon as he collided with the cage and it did nothing to stop him from approaching again. No, the move was more…cautionary, for him more than his mother.

"Guys," Kaden shouted, still staring at his mother, "Talk to them. They're still in there."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Alex yelled back, not even looking Kaden's way.

"Our parents. The drugs aren't stronger than them. Talk to them. Make them remember who they are."

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Review, please, it will make me more inspired (although I am not going to have time to write it until after the school year. I am so busy.)


	21. Too Many Cheaters

**Aki**- Been a while, huh? Sorry, it took a while. It's a long one if it is any conciliation. This story will probably be easier to write from now on. Gah, have I told you how much I hate writing fight scenes? Anyway, a great thanks to Tenshi, my counterpart, who wonderful proofed, edited, and fixed this chapter up to it was readable and makes a great deal more sense than it did (all whilst adding snarky comments). Not 100% with this, because I had been imagining these scenes from the beginning, but it's good enough.

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**Last time on EOL:**

"_Guys," Kaden shouted, still staring at his mother, "Talk to them. They're still in there."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?" Alex yelled back, not even looking Kaden's way._

"_Our parents. The drugs aren't stronger than them. Talk to them. Make them remember who they are."_

**Chapter 21: Too Many Cheaters**

Alex's breathing was heavy; his hand clutched his side, where his father had gotten in a good kick after he had dodged his son's second starbolt. He stumbled back a few paces, curling in on himself as a way to shield his wounded side. His kept his gaze up though, watching his father's every move, matching his steps as they circled each other in the confined space. He wanted to delay the next attack long enough for him to feel steady again.

He ran Kaden's words over and over again in his mind, along with defense strategies and mantras his mother taught him to get him in the mindset to use his Tamaranian abilities. 'Talk to him?' Alex almost scoffed at the thought. Talking to his father had been hard enough before he was brainwashed. Now he was supposed to do what—talk the man out of his drug induced stupor? All while not being pummeled by him? Could this be any harder?

'Robin' quit circling and charged, fast. Alex leaped awkwardly out of the way, tripping and trying to catch himself on his elbow. A cold, prickling ache shot up his funny bone. He tried to ignore it in favor of rolling out of the way of his father's return kick, but a second one found its home on his exposed chest. Knocked onto his back, he stared up at the top of the cage for a brief moment before forcing himself back to his feet.  …

Halle's shoulder banged painfully into the metal grate of a cage when she heard Kaden's yells. She gritted her teeth, comprehension of the meaning of her friend's words taking a bit longer than it should. There was a little jolt in her gut, a feeling of optimism and hope though she was tired and sweaty and bruising. Forcing her mother out of the air and into hand-to-hand combat was a wise move, but the fight that ensued was not easy. Starfire was just as strong as Halle, probably more, and was well-trained. Halle just had a few weeks of martial arts basics under her belt. This was an improvement from running around dodging starbolts, but not a great one.

Halle pushed herself off the cage wall and back into a defensive position, facing her mom who was angling herself for a punch. The teenager blocked it with a forearm and ducked under the following punch from the other hand. She spun away from Starfire and got out of her immediate range.

'_I'm supposed to talk. Supposed to talk…about...?'_

"Hey," said Halle, and it came out squeakier than she had intended. The 'good news' Kaden had spouted made her nervous. What if she couldn't do it? Worse, what if she did and it didn't help?

She pulled from her thoughts when she saw her mother, although still grounded, forming a starbolt in her hands. Halle jumped forward quickly and performed a sloppy and ill-aimed roundhouse kick. She clipped her mother's shoulder, enough to unbalance the woman and make her lose her forming green starbolt. Halle would try talking to her mom, but it would have to be in the midst of combat. She couldn't leave the older woman an opening to start flying or forming starbolts, tilting the battle field too much out of Halle's favor.

…

Cyborg heard Kaden at the same time he was watching a predatory leopard ready itself to pounce. Granted, a leopard was a deal lighter than a full-grown lion, but was quicker, and he bet the claws were just as sharp. The animal leaped in a graceful arc. Cyborg, having backed himself unwisely into the corner, had no way to escape being right on target. He braced himself for impact.

He was inevitably pushed into the cage behind him when the green leopard pounced onto him, but managed to maintain his balance. Gripping the leopard's front legs, Cyborg pushed the creature away. Thrown to the floor, Beast Boy in leopard form found his feet again quickly. Now, a very angry large cat, haunches raised, was ready to pounce again. Cyborg may have been made mostly of metal, but that did not make him indestructible.

Victor barely knew Kaden, but if he was like either of his parents, he would to trust the boy's hunch. He couldn't see how it would make the situation any worse.

…

"_Mom_," Kaden said, putting as much heartfelt love and desperation into the word as he could. It needed to be more than just a title. It had to be a _name_. He threw up a quick soulself shield that dissipated the moment his mother's soulself came in contact. Blocking her attacks was becoming harder for Kaden. He was wearing out. Plus, his mother seemed to return from her brief relapse into reality with a renewed vigor and aggression.

"_Listen to me_," he said, although he knew the direct command was next to useless. Needing a moment's rest from defending himself against her attacks, he lashed out, throwing a long band of energy low, hoping to trip his mother. She evaded it better than he had hoped, and merely stumbled.

"Look, you've always told me-," Kaden began, dodging a counter attack, "-that our powers are controlled by us controlling our emotions. But that's not _completely_ true is it?"

Raven formed a series of tentacle-like strands of soulself. Kaden jumped back as they whipped at him.

"Because our powers are _fueled_ by our emotions, right?. Without them we wouldn't be silent, deadly, heartless, ultimately powerful assassins. No, emotions would make us _weak_." Kaden formed two mini-black energy shields on each forearm and used them to deflect the tentacles. With speaking taking up half his concentration, his defense was a bit shoddy.

"Yeah, our emotions _can_ be dangerous," he continued, breathlessly, "combined with abilities like ours, but…_anyone_ too angry or passionate or... or even enthusiastic can be dangerous. God. What I'mtryingto say is that our emotions don't just fuel us, they give us a _reason_." His defense failed with his poor focus. A tentacle wrapped around his wrist and wrapped tightly around his forearm, yanking him forward. His energy armguards disappeared as he fell unceremoniously onto the harsh cement floor beneath him.

Wind knocked out of him briefly, he managed a few quick shallow breaths and said through gritted teeth: "Because we care about people…humanity, because we_ love _them."

To Kaden's surprise his mother's offending soulself disappeared from around his arm. He looked up at her. All the black energy was gone, but her eyes…they were still unfamiliar. But now they seemed desperate, irate - like a caged animal unable to perform the task commanded it. Kaden staggered to his feet and stared at her.

"We want to protect them," the boy persisted, a fierce sense of victory coursing through his veins. Raven rushed at him, growling, swinging at him. It was a desperate move, hardly decisive, and Kaden deflected it with both wrists and slide to the side. "We want to do good."

Raven swung again, but it was misaimed and he stepped away from her to avoid contact. It was becoming more like a strange dance than a fight, she moving towards him, kicking, striking, but not seldom making contact. "In the end, it's not your mind that is going to save you - no matter how well disciplined. I saw that before when you had the chance to kill me. It's your heart."

Then the moment came. Raven was distracted, footing uncertain, and…Kaden struck. He dropped into a crouch, balancing himself against the cool floor with his fingertips. Hooking one foot around her ankle, he swept her feet out. She was down in an instant. And now Kaden was the only one standing, looking down at her.

"And love, which is so much more than just emotion. So no matter how drugged—hypnotized—brainwashed, whatever, they have you, you're not going to kill me or hurt me." He put his arms down from a 'don't you dare move' position and let them hang at his side. Then after a moment, he offered a hand to her, a friendly gesture. "We both know that the heart is stronger than the head."

No hand came up to accept his, but Raven's face showed confusion. Her eyes weren't completely clear, but were more recognizably _hers_. She was still for a moment and then blinked. Her eyes sharpened as if her vision were now improving.

"Kaden?" she rasped and Kaden just about sunk to his knees in relief.

…

It made sense, Halle decided. She remembered a speck of knowledge from a psychology class she had taken for social studies credit. Movies often exaggerated hypnotism. You couldn't hypnotize someone to do something they were morally against, and obviously her mother would be against murdering her own daughter. Yes, whatever these villains had done was stronger than any 'Listen to my voice…you are growing sleepy' nonsense…but still. If Halle could make her mother remember for just an instant who she was and where she stood, maybe this whole trick would unravel.

"Hey, Mom," her voice squeaked again. She cleared her throat and began again. "Kaden says you guys are still in there somewhere," Halle dodged a wild swing from her mother by squatting quickly. "Of course, you have to be in there." Taking the opportunity, she tried to swipe Starfire's legs out from under her with a low kick, but her mother jumped over it in such a graceful way it was evident she was letting her ability to fly help.

"But I just didn't think we could be the ones to draw you out." Starfire kicked and Halle could not avoid getting hit altogether. She was pegged in the shoulder and rolled backwards. She grunted, "I'm rambling, I know."

Halle rolled to the side and sprang to her feet, not wanting to stay down another second and make herself vulnerable to another attack. Strands of her loose red hair stuck to the sweat on her face.

"I just don't know what to say."

Starfire tried to knee Halle in the gut, but Halle jumped backwards, banging into and rattling the cage wall. There was no more room behind her and her mother - eyes still blank and dazed, hair in a tangled disarray - was advancing. Halle barely managed to twirl away, along the wall when Starfire's punch - strong enough to dent the bars - landed where Halle's head had been moments ago. Halle couldn't spare a moment to reflect on her near escape, but took the moment her mother was distracted with her mishit to get behind the her and twist her loose arm behind her back.

"It's like…for so many years we didn't," Halle hissed through clenched teeth, exerting her alien strength to keep her mother in the submissive hold, "Like, y'know, _click_, and then we found something - a little patch of common ground that we didn't fight over."

Maybe it was because Starfire was a full grown woman, perhaps it was because her alien blood was untainted, or even because her brainwashing had cut all her restraint, but she was still stronger than her daughter. She threw off the hold wildly, twisting her body and arm so that both mother and daughter lurched away from each other.

"I liked that," Halle continued determinedly, voice harsh and shaky. She stood limply, shoulders hunched, arms hanging. A position that held no solid footing, no defense, no threat. Her stance was defeated but her eyes were sharp and impassioned. The drugged Starfire watched, catching her breath through gritted teeth.

"For the first time in so long neither of us were letting anything get in the way of getting along," Halle continued her speech in a stronger voice. "I don't want that to end."

Starfire looked confused, like she was not sure why the 'thing' she had been ordered—no— programmed to destroy was not making a move. Maybe it was a trick?

"Not here, not now," that "prey" persisted, "even though there's a good chance we both could die. That's my hope. And that's why I'm going to save you. Why we are going to win."

Halle sucked in a breath when she saw her mother's eyes tinge a glowing green. _Not good_, was the one coherent thought that flew through Halle's mind. If she was against starbolts and flight again…she wouldn't survive long. Yet, somehow, she wasn't panicking. Adrenaline was pounding too hard already, maybe. And then another idea flitted across her brain, something crazy and desperate that wouldn't solve anything...yet…she didn't bother thinking it through.

Halle darted across the room and locked her arms around her mother, hands clasped together behind the woman's back. The woman's hands were pinned to her side, and she was weighted down from any attempt at flight.

"_I love you_, Mom. I'm sorry for not saying that for so long. So, I want you so come back. I love you, Mom, I love you."

…

"This is so stupid," Alex muttered as he heard his three compatriots blabber away in one-sided conversations. It seemed idiotic to split their attention from the fight. He had to admit, though, that nothing else was working, and he was desperate - desperate not to get pummeled to death.

"So, Dad. Why don't you cut out this shit?" It wasn't exactly an appeal, but it was something he would really say to his father. Or what he would think about saying while giving the silent treatment. A nasty kick in the gut was his response. Alex groaned, falling back while clutching his stomach.

"I'm your son," he grunted out. "Your son," he repeated, quietly, to himself as he straightened up. His voice returned to what it had been before— disinterested, skeptical, and tired. "Remember that, will you?"

Alex might as well have been speaking gibberish. His father's response was to deliver a strong upper cut to his chin. The boy was nearly knocked to the floor. Alex was pissed off. Logically, he knew his father wasn't himself, but he making an effort to connect here! A weak, not entirely heartfelt one, but it wasn't like they had a bunch of great memories to reminisce on. Even Halle and Mom were getting along better than his father and him. Their relationship wasn't hell any longer, but they'd barely broken the surface of something tolerable.

It really wasn't fair, Alex decided, as he launched himself at his father. It was a chaotic move, and when Alex dislodged the man's sure and steady foothold, it was more by luck than any skill or aim.

Both landed roughly on the cement floor and had their breath knocked out of them. Alex had the barest of advantages: first, he was on top and second, his move had been so brash, unexpected, and stupid that the brainwashed Robin didn't immediately know how to react.

"No," Alex wheezed, trying to inhale. "Not now. You can't…not now." Being a better trained athlete, Alex's father caught his breath first. Robin gripped his son's shoulders and he rolled the two over in attempt to put himself in control of the fight. Somewhere behind Alex's sudden wish that he'd joined the wrestling team at school, his battle training kicked in and he kept the momentum going, stopping his father from straddling him on the ground. The roll continued until Alex was the one above. He tried to wrench himself out of his father's grip, and the man took advantage the boy's momentary imbalanced position to roughly push Alex off of him.

Flung to the side, he was sure he felt something in his side, a rib, crack on impact with the floor. Adrenaline alone saved him from feeling the full extent of the pain. He should have known getting a hit in was not worth giving up pinning his enemy. Another failure. How many times did Dad try to get that through to him when he was sparring with either him or Halle?

"I was never the kind of son you wanted," Alex said, pushing himself up to lean heavily on the cage wall, one arm protectively around his side. "I know that." His eyes were dark and his tone bitter. _A failure._

Robin moved towards him again, but Alex did not wait to be forced to evade him. The boy attacked wildly, despite his injury, swinging his arms, hands twisted into tight fists. His father brushed off the blows with no real exertion.

"I _hated_ you for it," Alex said, his voice growing louder, surer, and fiercer, as a fist brushed his father's shoulder. "But recently," he stumbled after a wildly missed punch, but was able to save it by twisting around sharply, and kicking out at Robin's left knee. "There were days I thought I had an inkling," the words became a yell on the last word, "of your respect."

"Because - you were - finally - getting - to _know me_," his sentence was punctuated by grunts combined with punches, each more precise than the last. Robin was now forced to actively block them.

"But that's not good enough!" the boy roared. Robin was backed into a corner of the cage with a punch to the chest, one deep in the stomach, and a kick to the same knee that had already suffered a recent hit.

"Not yet. Don't you dare leave me. Don't you dare, Dad!" And the man was down, forced on his knees in a small space.

Alex's hand shot out, and he held his father to the wall. Raising the other arm, he formed a fist. A starbolt fizzled uncertainly. Alex's vision grew blurry and his eyes burned. He blinked and his sight cleared a little, though warm tears rolled down his cheeks. His voice was choked but still strong. "Not now. I'll never forgive you."

"For what?"

…

Cyborg held his arms out, palms up, hoping to placate Beast Boy's ready-to-attack feline form in the corner.

"Hey, man," said Cyborg, employing Kaden's discovery and hoping to get many words in as he could before he had to fight again. "Look, I know we haven't seen each other in a long time. And everyone else has their own kids to fight with—" Beast Boy pounced, claws extended, towards his perceived enemy. Cyborg ducked and ran. He wasn't nearly as agile as some of his teammates, both past and present, being taller, more muscular, and made mostly out of metal, but he was able to move enough so that the green leopard jumped over him, instead of on him.

"I don't know how to compare to a relationship like that," Cyborg continued as soon as he was out of immediate harm's way. "But that's not gonna stop me from trying… Grass-stain." Cyborg chuckled to himself at the use of the old nickname, one of the ones he'd been reminded of when Kaden started using Victor's old ones. The two faced each other. Giving up on the 'big cat' thing, the man shifted into a rhino. Cyborg's human eye widened. The beast charged and Cyborg dove ungracefully out of the way of the wicked horn. The animal crashed into the cage wall, denting it. The large, lumbering creature really did not have enough room to reach its most dangerous speed, but could still stomp, gore, and run enough to be a palpable threat.

"Nice one, Grass-stain," grunted Cyborg as he pushed himself to his feet. The green rhino backed up and turned to face his enemy. Cyborg took advantage of the moment. "God, that was so long ago. The Titans. Being teenagers. Back when we were best friends."

The rhino backed up still more so he could have the largest amount of space to speed up. It would be useless to try to hide. Cyborg continued talking.

"I miss you, buddy. Don't you remember? Me? Anything? Your wife? Your kid? Being a hero?" he asked urgently.

The rhino lowered his head and charged. Cyborg scrambled out of the way. He was almost caught under the beast's feet, though he was out of the way of a direct hit.

Cyborg gritted his teeth. This wasn't working. Closing his eyes briefly, he decided to change tactics slightly. It was a cruel card to play, but perhaps a painful memory could pull him from his mind-control. "Remember Terra…and how she was kinda your first love. And how she betrayed you, us, to Slade?"

Beast Boy gave no noticeable response, except to also decide that something wasn't working…being a rhino. He transformed temporarily into human form, got a running start, leapt in the hair and turned into a bird of prey, circling and swooping in the space above Cyborg's head.

"Come on!" Cyborg yelled. "You have to remember that jerk! And his Sladebots..." The metal man recalled his green friend's favorite way to demolish Sladebots. It involved going into the air as a light animal and coming down as a heavy one. Although Beast Boy never tried that on an actual living being, Cyborg was sure it would have the same effect if applied to him.

Cyborg didn't know what to do. He couldn't reach the bird and dared not shoot Beast Boy when he was in a delicate animal form. There was nowhere to hide from the bird, which stayed over top of him as he ran around the enclosed cage, trying not to get crushed. He forced himself to transform one arm into the cannon, set it on the lowest it could go, and intentionally shot misaimed blasts into the air, meant to distract and delay the bird.

"What about Control Freak? We got to go inside the TV, you loved that! Or Mother-Mae-Eye, who made you wear a bunny suit! That was hilarious!" Cyborg shouted. "Or New-Fu from space who were stealing all the cows? Or how about when we almost didn't have the Fourth of July because Mad…Mod…"

God. How did he not think of it before? He'd seen Beast Boy lose control of his mind before - several times while Mad Mod was being, well, mad. It was simple to sort him out once the team had learned the trick.

"Why can't you play cards in the jungle?" Cyborg shouted, hands cupped around his mouth to make sure Beast Boy heard him. "Because there's too many cheetahs!"

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Reviews=love (please,please,please,please!!!!!!!!!!)


	22. Reunions

Aki- Will you hate me if I say I have had this chapter written for a while and I just needed to edit it? Yup...

* * *

**Reunions**

Madam Rouge had sent some lackeys to retrieve her high backed chair as soon as the fights commenced. She leaned back lazily. This little glitch of having the children follow their parents' footsteps had actually turned out extraordinarily well. She rested her chin lightly on her gloved fingers.

It was difficult to see everything that was going on, with four fights going on at once and with four cages all adjacent to each other. She could still make out of the flashes of moving bodies caught in the rough dance of battle, hear grunts of pain and the clattering of bars of change over the rabble and cheers of her surrounding minions.

She was content.

***

"Mom," Kaden almost squeaked and fell to his knees at her side.

"Kaden," she repeated as he helped her sit up with a hand on her shoulder. She held up her torso with one hand, used the other to rub her weary eyes. "You're okay," she stated.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm okay," he said, the taste of a sad smile on his voice.

Sitting up properly she took both of his hands in her own. "Heal me," she said and before Kaden could question she explained, "To get the rest of the drugs out of my body."

Kaden obeyed, closing his eyes to concentrate, muttering his mantra. The relief he was feeling made the power come sliding out of his easier than he expected and his hands glowed over hers. Raven seemed into inhale his power and then exhale her reignited own.

"The drugs, you knew?" Kaden asked, releasing her hands and opening his eyes.

"I had a few moments of consciousness between the doses," Raven explained, beginning to take in her surroundings. The cage, the villains, the allies, and Kaden.

"What're you wearing?"

Kaden looked down at his body as if he had to check that he was wearing what he thought he was wearing.

"My costume," he answered sheepishly.

Raven bit back a remark, whether scolding or sarcastic, Kaden didn't know.

"How's everyone else?" she asked, her senses were a bit overwhelmed by so many people. She couldn't sift out the individual souls of her friends.

"I—I don't know," Kaden answered, voice cracking. "I told them. I told them we could get you out. All of you. I knew I could save you." Kaden was rambling and shaking. The shock of what had happened— he had fought his own mother for his life— was sinking in now that they action had died.

"I know," Raven told her son. She touched his cheek with her palm. "You did so well, Kaden. But you need to calm down, so we can help our friends."

Kaden nodded and gulped, as if to swallow his nerves. Then he helped his mother to her feet.

***

A moment after Raven awoke did Starfire ceased struggling. Even reduced to her simplest instincts, she could sense that Halle's hold was not hostile. She remembered this. Something more affectionate, more passive, more _human_ than the 'obey, destroy, kill' attitude she was living in.

Starfire recognized this. It was a hug. And in the moment of clarity she recognized many other things as well— the bright color hair, the familiarity of the girl latched around her torso, the words she was saying— "Mom."

Mom, Mother. Daughter. Halle.

"X'hal." It was a Tameranian swear. And it was the first word Halle heard her mother speak since she come home one day to find her home trashed.

"Mom?" came a question of baited breathed. The grip on Starfire became looser.

"What's going on?" Kori voiced. She felt uneasy in her own body. Her vision was fuzzy on the edges. Her hearing was muzzled. Words felt like mush in her mouth.

Kori was released from Halle's tight hug, but Halle didn't remove her hands from her mother's arms.

"What do you remember?" Halle asked.

"The house," Kori said, struggling eyes not quite focusing on her daughters face. "It was attacked. Dick and I tried to fight, but it was an ambush. We never expected it and then…" Kori shook her head. It was all an indiscernible fuzz of almost nothingness.

"And now we're in a cage?" Kori asked. Her head was slowly clearing. This was so odd her, to be missing the connecting pieces from then and now.

"We came to rescue you."

"We? Alex is here?"

"Yeah," Halle answered, eyes flickering over nervously to the cage where there was a fight between her brother and father, hoping things were going okay. "And Cyborg— and Kaden."

Kori's faces scrunched up like she was trying to remember something she thought she had forgotten due to her current confusion.

"Raven and Beast Boy's son. They were captured too."

She accepted it, but there was the inkling of confusion etched in the expression of her face.

"Halle!" The girl turned to see Kaden at the cage wall. His arm was through one of the grates. She approached, her mother following, and took Kaden's hand in hers in a comforting gesture. The top of Kaden's ears went pink.

"Friend Raven," Kori greeted. Halle gave her mother a strange look.

"Starfire," returned Raven, her mouth forming the barest hint of a smile.

Raven reached her own two hands through the bars and Starfire took them silently, knowing what the wordless cue meant from years past. Tendrils of healing magic swirled up Kori's arm and then faded away. Starfire blinked a few times as she adjusted to being hit with the sudden sharpening of her senses.

"It's been a long time," she said.

"It has," Raven agreed.

***

"For what?"

Alex's trembling fist loosened, his grip was lost, and his arm fell. He gasped, blinked, and another tear escaped his wet eyes.  
"What the— where am— huh?" Dick seemed greatly out of his sorts. He reached a hand up to his face and felt his mask with his gloved hands. The pealed the mask from his eyes and stared at it as it lay in his palms. Then he looked up at his son.

"Dad," Alex said.

"Alex…are you crying?"

The boy shook his head as he sniffled and replied, "No, Dad." He wasn't embarrassed. He just couldn't find a way to explain his tears. A mix of bitterness and happiness, perhaps.

As Dick took a moment to rub his eyes, as if to banish his poor vision, which was all fuzzy and making his imagine tears. Alex took the reprieve to wipe his face dry with the cuffs of his sleeves.

After dropping his hands and assessing his surrounding he looked up at his son from where he was kneeling on the floor.

"We were kidnapped. Drugged too, if the way I feel is any indication. They knew we were superheroes. And if all the Titans are here…what's this about— revenge?"

"Wow," Alex mouthed.

Dick scrutinized his son. "And how did you get into all of this?"

Alex scoffed, but it was light and lacked the usual scorn carried with it. "I'm here to rescue you."

"We're in a cage."

"There were some technical difficulties."

Dick smirked and almost chuckled. He began to get up and Alex offered a hand, which Dick accepted. But as soon as Dick pulled his weight up Alex winced and wrapped his free arm around his waist.

"Are you okay?  
Alex merely grunted in response, bit into his bottom lip, and nodded his head by the merest fraction of an inch.

Dick didn't know exactly what had gone on in the big area of his memories that were blank. He was, however, practiced in the art of deduction. So when he reached out a comforting, steadying hand, despite the fact he was barely maintaining his own balance, to lay on his son's shoulder it was wrong. It was wrong the way his son shrugged away in a movement that was almost a flinch. He knew, he realized, he had hurt his son.

"Alex. Dick."

"Dad!"

He ignored the shouts from his wife and daughter, after a glance to assure they were okay. He had been who he had needed to be for his wife. And he tried to be who he needed to be for his children. For sixteen years he had kept they safe from this world. The world of powers and capes and villains, by forsaking and forgetting who he had once been. It was why Starfire and Robin became Kori and Dick. For the twins. He wanted them to be happy and healthy and safe and not in want for anything they may need. And he had succeeded with his daughter. But his son, Alex, he had left the boy with not much but doubt about how his father was proud of him. How much he loved him.

He hadn't been the man he needed to be for his son.

So he ignored the other half of his family, for just a moment, and reached a hand out, tentatively, until his fingers brushed his son's elbow where he stood half turned away from his father. With a gentle force he guided his son, who was trying to calm his breathing, which was ragged but slowed, towards him and towards Kori and Halle waiting at the cage wall for them.

"You did good," Dick whispered and Alex looked up at his father, who seemed so much taller when standing right next to him, in a weird wonder. And then he began to go red from the neck up because he thought he might start crying again.

When they approached the cage, Starfire tried to take both her son and husband into a hug through the bars.

Halle caught her brother's eye when she heard him sniffle. She smiled a closed mouth smile that was sincere, but didn't reach her eyes. It may have been the first non-sardonic or non-derisive smile she had offered her brother for a long time.

***

Although it wasn't quite a surprise to Cyborg when Beast Boy fell out of the air, back in human form, and keeled over on the floor in crazy laughter muttering about cheetahs. It was a surprise realizing how long it had been since hearing his once best friend's laughter. Cyborg was not sure if it was him, but the laughter seemed to be deeper now. Yet, it was not any less cheerful. Things change and things don't.

"BB?" It was Cyborg's greeting. The man, not quite 'Beast _Boy_' any longer, looked up at him. Confusion was riding across his green features.

"Cy?"

If Cyborg had thought his old friends face looked confused, that was nothing compared to the confusion in his voice. His eyes skirted around the room like a desperate critter— to his unfamiliar clothing, the cold floor, the cage, the villains outside, his family in the connecting cages.

"Not again," he muttered in a way that said he was much too familiar with this, as he struggled to his feet. He put a hand to his head. He was feeling woozy.

"Well, it wasn't exactly the same, but I figured something corny would do the trick."

"Yeah," agreed Gar around a chuckle. He sighed. This was slightly awkward.

"It's been a while," the green man said.

"True story…I met your kid, um, Kaden, kinda orchestrated this whole," Cyborg looked wearily around the cage, "Rescue mission. He's—" Cyborg paused.

"The impossible mix and me and Raven," Gar supplied. "Creepy, I know."

"Really creepy…Saladhead."

Gar raised an eyebrow before replying, "Garbage Disposal."

And with that they joined the clump of former Titans and their children at where all their cages met in the middle. There were a few uncomfortable greetings from old friends that had long since ceased to play 'friend' rolls. Gar stuck an arm through the bars and ruffled his son's hair. Raven extended her healing magic to both her husband and her former leader. It resulted with bit of them bent double, vomiting on the floor. Cyborg jumped back, as not to get any on his feet, Alex looked repulsed, Starfire was flitting around uselessly in worry.

"I expected they might have some adverse reaction to have the drugs being purged from their system so swiftly," Raven explained coolly and unaffected. "Considering their both human, and thus, most susceptible." She felt it was unnecessary to explain that alien and demon ancestry made the body more adapt at filtering something made in the attempt to control humans. "They'll be fine in a few moments."

Kaden acted like this was no new news, Cyborg and Starfire were a bit reassured, while Halle and Alex shared a glance, obviously not used to this strange woman and her strict monotone.

***

She had first thought it was funny when she realized that the children and that cyborg were pleading their brainwashed counterparts. It was _pathetic_. So like the goody-two-shoes thinking that they could always save each other. These children, her stomach knotted, and the cyborg, they would either kill or be killed. They were too weak to kill. They would die, and none of their pleading, reasoning, crying, praying could save them. Not know. She laughed, loudly in spite herself, and leaned forward in her chair in anticipation of the worst, the product of her best.

But then things started to change. The fighting stopped, slowed and…She glanced around. Most of the others were busy still exchanging beats, rough housing, getting in their own fights on the catwalk around the room. She stood from her chair, an angry determination surrounding her moments. A moment later she had grabbed the doctor, who had come up with the drug, by the front of his shirt. Rogue towered over the smaller man.

"What's wrong with the drugs? Why have they stopped working?"

"Ah…ah," the man began to stutter, taking a moment to push his glasses up his nose. "Well, th-the mind is strong. It's always possible that—"

"What?" she almost screamed. "What's possible?"

"Possible that the mind would overcome the drugs when the subjects were confronted with a familiar, emotionally evoking stimuli."

"Dammit," Rogue swore, pushing the doctor away from her as she released him. "No, this isn't what is supposed to happen." She went to back to the railing, gripped it tight in her hands as she leaned over it.

"No," she said louder than before, almost a yell. And then again. "No!"

* * *

I think I would rather have Madam Rouge yelling the f-word at the end of this story. I figure that would have encompassed what she was feeling more than 'NOOOOOOooo!!!" but, I tried to keep the language rather mild in this, so...no....well, remember, reviews equal love!!!


	23. Family

**Aki- **So, is anyone still reading this miserable story? Okay, well, here is the next chapter. I apologize for the long wait, parts of this have been written for a while, but it has not been complete. I will always finish the fanfics I start no matter how long it takes me. Here you are. Btw, there will probably be only one chapter after this, and that is more epilogue than chapter, but whatever.

* * *

**Family**

"Rogue" said an astounded Robin, as he stared up at the woman on the catwalk. "Madam Rogue was behind all of this?"

"That's impossible," said Beast Boy with a tiny breath.

"No, they all came out of their chronological freeze eventually. She wasn't the mastermind of the Brotherhood, but she wasn't dumb either," Robin reasoned.

"No," said Raven, staring up at the place where the villainess stood. "Gar and I dealt with Rogue again some years back. She was behind this terrorist plot— an explosion. We tried to stop her, and we made sure no innocents were killed, but she was stubborn about making sure it happened, no matter what. She died in the explosion. She killed herself in the explosion."

"Okay, what are we talking about?" said Halle, voicing the confusion of the three teens. She was ignored.

"But," Robin said with a vague wave of the hand. It looked like Rogue, sounded like Rogue, acted like Rogue, and all his reasoning was saying it was Rogue.

"It's not Rogue," Raven insisted. "It's her daughter."

Gar was the only one not perturbed by this revelation, well, him and the kids, as they had no idea is hell what was going on.

He added in an unanswered aside, "We've dealt with her before too."

"Val, we know it's you," Raven yelled.

Rogue—Val—whoever, didn't deny it. And, using the same ability as her mother, she seemed to melt away and reform into a new person— similar to Rogue in appearance, but younger, a tad shorter, and with longer hair and a different outfit, all black instead of Rogue's name appropriate red.

"Give it up, Val," Gar yelled too. "You lost. You're done."

"You cannot control us anymore!" added Starfire passionately. The villains on the catwalk above, disappointed at the turn of events, started shouting slurs and swears and insults down at the captives. Titans and company replied with shouts of their own, mostly directly to the Rogue-imposter, with demands to be set free, for their captors to surrender, and that justice would be served.

Val was irate, silently solemn, with fingers twitching into fists. Then she screamed a scream that pierced through all the other voices and deflated them. It was not just a scream that was loud, but it was raw. It made one's throat hurt just thinking that one could scream like that. The intensity of the scream was all driven into one word,

"Quiet!"  
And the room became so.

"It's over," Robin said loudly.

"Non," she said, seething, almost shaking. "It iz not over. Not until I get my revenge."

"Revenge? For what?"

"For taking my mother away from me!" she screeched in desperation.

"We didn't kill her," said Raven in a voice that was both commanding and placating.

She shook her head despite the distance making the nuance useless. "Your team took her away from me long before you drove her to her death . Her year long obsession to destroy you with zee Brotherhood of Evil. Freezing her. Imprisoning her. By zee time she was free again, I was grown up. And now, she is dead.

"And I think to myself, what a fitting punishment it would be for the Titans to suffer zee same fate as my mother— leaving their children behind to suffer. And what a better what zan to make zem depart as villains instead of heroes.

"Then your meddlesome children got involved and I had to improvise. A family fight to zee death seems good under short notice, non?" [1]

Val took a step back from the rail of the catwalk she had been gripping with a sort of desperate, choking anger and stood tall, her vigor renewed. "It matters not." Her eyes peeled away from the Titans and she gave her attention to her henchmen and colleges. "Fellows, our plan has not succeeded as dreamed. However, not all is lost. The Titans are still our captives and we outnumber them. What about a little more… hands on revenge."

A rebel rousing call of approval went out through the room. The former Titans and their children looked around at the crowd surrounding them above, realizing the fight they thought was now only beginning.

"Destroy them," was the last thing Val said, her voice deep and purely venomous. The henchmen that could fly or safely leap from the raised walkway to the down did so with screams, the others running and pushing through the doors ways to get down the staircases on the other side.

"Open the doors!" some villain yelled and the doors of the cages clicked unlocked.

"Get out," Robin said swiftly and loudly over the scramble of the villains quickly surrounding them. "We don't want to get stuck in these cages. Get out and meet on top the cage were we can fight them off."

There was no time to argue and they all split into the pairs they had been assigned up fate and ran to their respective cage door, sliding them open. Starfire used one strong starbolt to blast the awaiting ninja, dressed in head to toe black into another attacker, who was dressed in a trenchcoat and with a fedora obscuring his face. She grabbed Halle by the arm and took flight. The ninja got back on his feet and jumped, latching himself onto Halle's ankle, she kicked her leg violently, hitting him against the side of the cage. He released her.

Kaden and Raven had been able to levitate them rather quickly, Kaden making a black disc to hold them as Raven fended off attackers, including a rather aged, washed up looking Punk Rocket. Cyborg and Beast Boy skidded out the doorway of the cage they had fought in. Cyborg instantly transformed his arm into the sonic blaster and let off a blaze of blue blast into the oncoming horde. Beast Boy transformed into a dinosaur, something the confinement of the cage had prevented him from doing, and swung his thick and heavy tail around in the crowd, flattening many, including Adonis, ready in fresh red robotic armor, zesty for an old fight.

"Come on," Beast Boy said, transforming into his natural human form, now that they had a brief clearing. A moment later he was a pterodactyl clasping Cyborg's shoulders in his claws as if this were a daily routine, like it once had been.

When Robin and Alex exited there cage they had to throw themselves instantly into the fight. Robin found himself in hand-to- hand combat with what must have been a seven foot woman welding a heavy club as a weapon. He ducked a swing of the club at his head and then dodged a heavy swing down. The club struck the floor leaving a dent in its wake. Robin grimaced. Alex shot a wavering starbolt from one fist, but the time it hit its first target, a man who had seemed to sport a suit made of blue crystals, it was mostly dissipated and was a barely a hindrance. It probably just gave off a mild sting.

Alex paused and shook his head to clear it so he could concentrate. He shot another starbolt, stronger this time, and it hit crystal man on the shoulder, causing him to stumble for a moment, but not stop his charge. He was sure he was about to be pancaked when he felt a hand on his upperarm and he was yanked out of the way and into his father. The crystal-suit guy couldn't stop in time and he ran straight into the cage wall.

"Climb," his father hissed into his ear before giving him a little shove. Alex laced his fingers through the gaps in the cage, but whipped his head around.

"Dad?" he asked, tentatively, worried, the unsaid question being 'aren't you coming too?'

"Go!" Robin demanded and he sounded angry. Alex gulped and nodded, wide-eyed like he was six years old again and not in fact sixteen. A moment later he had turned around and began his ascent. His mother gripped his arms as he neared the top and she pulled him to the top with ease. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, just for a brief moment, for there wasn't much time for affection in the midst of a battle. She pulled him away from her, hands gripped tightly, but not too tightly on his shoulders. Alex thought strayed to the odd thought of how hard it must have been for her to learn how to measure her own strength, to be light enough not to hurt, but firm enough to be comforting. But there were no time for such thoughts now. She stared him in the eyes.

"Good job, son," she said, but it was barely a whisper and he couldn't hear it through the mayhem, but he could read her lips. A half second later, he jolted where he stood as she reached a straight arm and a clenched fist over his shoulder and shot a starbolt off. He heard a small 'oomph' over everything else. She had just taken down an oncoming enemy.

"Get those starbolts ready, Alex, we have a fight ahead of us." With that she pushed him over to where the rest of the Titans had congregated on the center of the cage on a small circle, backs to each other. He fell in next to Kaden's mother, who he was unfamiliar with but looked startlingly like him. Her eyes slide to observe him for half a moment, before snapping back to slash an attack of her dark energy. He had seen Kaden do it, but it obvious who was more well-trained, practiced, and powerful. To be honest, he was glad he wasn't going up against her. Raven was a bit scary.

Around him, all of the Titans were fighting. Cyborg using his sonic blast to plow down opponents, like Raven was and his mother had been, but she was now pulling her husband up to the top of the cage like she had Alex. Kaden was following the example of his own mom. Halle and Beast Boy, who were more hands-on with their abilities, took down baddies as they climbed or landed onto the top of the cage.

His mother and father joined his side. "Come on, Alex," his Dad said, but it was kinder than earlier, his eyes having a soft expression to them. He got it then, why dad had yelled at him to climb. He had been worried, scared even. Maybe he had always been worried, all of his life, why he had pushed him, wanted him to be different that he was. He had only wanted him, his children, to be safe.

Crowded back to back on the top of the cage, the eight of them fought and defended themselves and each other. It was something fluid that almost disappeared in their thoughts and wonderings how they worked so seamlessly, yet at the same time in an almost panicked roughness. As difficult and seemingly endless as this battle was with odds set perilously against the Titan family, they had something, some desperate hope and passion, and a spirit of unity, that kept them standing undefeated in that fight. Now reunited there was the silent agreement the exuded from their panted breaths, the brief glances of eye contact between them, the gentle, friendly brushing of shoulders where all other contact was malicious: they would not be broken apart now. During this squabble, the odds somehow twisted and changed.

The fight kept on. But somehow, despite the odds, they seemed to be winning. The waves kept coming, but they were not drowning in the horde. In fact, they were managing very well. In fact, it was not that hard at all. Eight of them, together, no drugs, not divided, fighting as one, watching each of other's back. And maybe there really was something about the power of love and friendship and family, or the mere fact that they had something worth fighting for, more than any of the villains and lackeys here. And, eventually, the tides of attackers slowly. Some were incapacitated, either groaning on the floor nursing their wounds or straight out unconscious, even more were slipping out of the room, trying to go unnoticed, realizing that this fight, not being easily won, was not a fight they wanted to be involved in. Only a few remained, the strongest and most skilled, ones that had pride or stubbornness or some sense of loyalty to a mission. But eventually they came the outnumbered ones.

The Titans didn't see it, but Val was seething from her place overlooking the scrabble going on. Even separated, even with children who were uncouth and rough in their training, they were beating the multitudes of her henchmen being thrown at them. The Titans truly were legend. Better than she anticipated, way better.

She wasn't stupid. She knew a battle lost when she saw one. She had lost, all this, a waste. Sleepless hours of planning, organizing, sweeping up groups of her fellows willing to listen to her command and with enough spite in their bellies to go against the Titans. Even though the fight was still staggering on, she had already accepted defeat, and marched out of the room, down a hallway, alone, and left. She was done. If she ever crossed the paths of any of the Titans or their offspring again, she would be ruthless, but she had wasted too much of her life on this, on hurting, on revenge, and couldn't force it anymore.

"Je suis désolée, Mére," she whispered into the emptiness of the metal-walled hallway, the sounded of the battle dying behind her with every long stride she took, nothing but the click of her heals on the floor filling the air around her. "I tried. I tried."

And…it was over. Even the one or two who still had passion and revenge coursing through their veins dare not risk themselves and capture against the eight who were able to taken on the horde. And with a leader who abandoned them, the last who fought by fear or loyalty were gone too. Victory. In the past, the Titans would have pursued, plans of arresting and justice being served, but now they remained, weary, on top of the cages, content to be living.

Alex was bent in double, resting a hand on his knee, breathing hard, his arm that had been injured earlier held against his chest, panting roughly. Halle stepped closer to him, her breath heavy, but even, and rested a caring hand lightly on his shoulder. For the first time since before their kidnapping, Kory embraced Dick, who squeezed his arms around her back, the comfort of the familiar filling him as he watched his children over Kory's shoulder. Gar ran a hand down Raven's arm, ending at her hand, where she grabbed his and held without even looking. Gar used his other hand to vigorously ruffle Kaden's hair when he approached. "Dad," said Kaden in a little whine, but he smiled anyway.

Cyborg—Victor—stood alone, awkwardly, apart from them, feeling like he intruding on other's meetings. He felt uncomfortably alone.

And why did he expect anything to change anyway? Weren't they all at the same place they had started. Parents and children. Husbands and wives. And he hadn't a part in it.

He took a step back, his metal foot against the metal bars, grating, his nerves thin. He got it. He had played his part, helped rescue his former brothers-and-sisters-in-arms, helped a couple of kids get reunited with their parents. He wasn't bitter about it. It was the right thing to do, and that was what he was supposed to do, the right thing. But he worked alone now, had for a long time, and he hadn't stepped into this mess to get the old team together or anything.

Best to leave now. Goodbyes were always awkward, at best, and he didn't want to bother with getting tied up with them. He turned to go, just barely.

"Where do you think you're going?" a cool calculated voice asked him. He spun on heal to find Raven pegging him with a steady, fairly emotionless stare. She had caught everyone's attention, Kaden and Gar, watching fairly obviously, with Kori, Dick, and the twins being a little more subtle where the stood a bit further away.

He opened his mouth, but Raven was still fairly intimidating, perhaps even creepier as an adult, completely in control of herself. "Well," he finely croaked out lamely, "This seems more like…" he paused and waved a hand, "a family thing."

She crossed her arms and raised a thin eyebrow. Cyborg readied himself for a scathing remark that would seem appropriate to accompany such an expression.

"You are family." It was a horribly cheesy thing to say, but Raven managed to make it completely honestly, like an understated fact finally sliding to the surface.

* * *

[1] anything here remind you of Scooby Doo?


	24. Purpose & Epilogue

**Purpose**

Afterwards, they congregated at Cyborg's, which was the closest, taking shifts showering, eating, and changing out of their clothes, for those who had spares. It crowded, it was a place intended for one, not eight, but they managed. For the first time, they pieced together the story of how the Titans had fallen apart. Kori and Dick had been the first to skip out, having left the other three remaining team members confused and answerless. It was obvious now, sixteen years and some months down the road what had happened. Cyborg had calculated it out in his head when he met the twins for the first time. Star had been pregnant. Just a week before the two dropped off the map, she had gotten hurt in a fight. It had scared the both of them, enough to realize that they not only had to stop fighting crime, but they had to disappear. For the sake of their children, at that point yet unborn, they could not have enemies. It was a risk they weren't willing to take. So they stepped into the shadows of a civilian life and cut off all connections to their superhero identities. That, unfortunately, included there once teammates and friends.

"I am sorry," Kori said as there explanations came to an end. "I cannot tell you how much it tore me," her eyes cut over to her husband, "Tore us, apart."

Afterwards, it wasn't the same, Raven, Gar, and Vic would be soon to admit. They had been thrown off balance. They were adults by this time, and started to bring younger heroes under their wings, to fill in the gaps and for the sake of their heritage as the _Teen_ Titans. Somewhere in that time Beast Boy and Raven started dating, and it turned more serious, and suddenly the tower felt too small, especially with a bunch of teenagers running about. Cyborg had become the third wheel already, but when they told him they wanted to move out, into an apartment in town, but they would still be working with the team. However, it just resulted in him feeling even more alienated. It turns out even the distance of a couple miles was far enough to sever the last of already strained bonds.

The couple of kids they had pulled into the tower were doing alright, and Raven and Beast Boy stopped assisting them for there was no need and were following their own cases. Victor had been becoming more reclusive himself. It was a sad part of life, that people sometimes just drifted apart, even once close friends, and eventually Cyborg left the younger, replacement Titans to move to a city that was in need of the help of a superhero and the couple moved elsewhere and neither entity was sure who were the ones to leave first.

Now here they are, again, sixteen years later. And where did they stand with each other now?

"Oh," Kori breathed as she entered through the front door of her home. She had forgotten that her house had been ransacked when she was kidnapped. She had hoped, now she saw, fruitlessly, that once her family had returned to their home the miserable ordeal would be behind them except for memories, ones she had hoped to tuck away and heal.

Dick's hand found its way onto her shoulder and he squeezed it in a comforting way. Alex and Halle slithered past their parents blocking the doorway and into the living room. They had seen this all before and it wasn't shocking or scary this time. Mom and Dad were home, everything was all right, the disaster scene that had been a harbinger of doom before was no longer. It had been resolved. Before either could get very far Kori reached out and grabbed them and pulled them back into her and held them tight to her. The twins usually would have complained, but they stayed silent.

It was actually fairly easily to clean up an apartment when you have two members who essentially have abilities equivalent to telekinesis. "But, Mom, we just got home," Kaden whined briefly.

"Think of it as training," she shot back coolly. "Plus, it's not worse when then your father's mess.

"Hey!"

His elbow clinked against the counter at his computer. He put his chin in his hand. Cyborg couldn't believe it. He was bored. No, worse, he was lonely. He had gotten over lonely, years ago. But now that the too many people that inhabited his home had vacated it, it felt empty. It was never meant to hold anyone else but him, but now the whole place was just echoes and shadows.

It wasn't fair, really. The Titans had split up years ago. It was not like this entire _incident_, for there were no other word for it, was going to remake the team. He had never wished it so. But everyone else had something to go back to—family.

He didn't. And now that it had been displayed so vibrantly before his own eyes, it wasn't something he could ignore.

"Hey, Alex, uhh, can I talk to you?"

Halle was standing in her brother's doorway, wearing pajama shorts and a tank top. It had been five days since they had returned home, a week since they rescued their parents. They had gone back to school the day before. Neither twin had said anything, but neither had felt right there, anymore. Alex had always not exactly fit in. But bullies, who had once consumed his thoughts and worries were nothing more than the annoyance of a mosquito itch. Classes, one thing he used to practically enjoy, seemed dry and dead. For Halle, similar was happening. She still cared for her friends, but she had this slice of her life she had to keep from them, and that made it difficult. All the things she used to enjoy doing: shopping, parties, boys…no longer held their glamour.

If their parents had known their children were feeling this way, they would have been freaking out. Their offsprings' view on the world had been tainted; they could no longer appreciate the little pieces of their lives they used to. Not only had their home been breached, there family, there sense of safety, and now even their sense of how to live. No, her parents would not like that at all. So Halle only had only her brother to go to.

"Yeah, sure," he said, nodding to his bed. She came in his room and sat down on the edge of his bed. He was sitting at the swivel car at his computer desk. He scooted closer and propped his feet up on the pillows. "So?"

"I've been thinking, since this whole thing went down… it was the first time, god, this sounds stupid…"

"Go on," Alex urged genuinely. He felt suddenly weird. When was the last time he had a heart to heart with his sister. They had been at each other's throats for so long. Only recently had they called an unspoken truce to rescue their parents.

Halle sighed heavily, and her shoulders sunk with the action. "It was the first time I felt like I had a purpose."

"That's not stupid," Alex replied, almost instantly.

They sat there, each other stuck in the same wordless revelation. A shared unity they were not used to having together.

"So," Alex interrupted the quite. "What're we gonna do?"

"I have an idea."

It was ten minutes until midnight. The moon was the barest clipped fingernail of a crescent, but there was plenty of light in the city, from windows and streetlamps, to see by. Not that anyone could see the two of them standing there on the flat rooftop of the five story building.

"Are you sure he's coming?"

"He's coming. You should have heard him on the phone. He sounded like I told him Santa Claus would be here."

Alex snickered and then fell silent. The twins continued to wait.

Five minutes later, there was a muffled thud on the floor of the roof across from them. There standing was Kaden, in white trench coat and all. He walked up to them.

"I'm surprised at you guys. I thought for sure you would go back to living a normal, cushy life in that big ass house of yours."

"I'm glad you think so highly of us, Kaden," Halle retorted.

They stood in a little cluster on the rooftop.

"I see you guys got new uniforms," Kaden acknowledged with a nod.

"Yeah, well, a little charge on the emergence credit cards," Alex agreed. Halle had replaced her leggings and converse shorts with a short athletic skirt and high black boots that ended just below her knees. Her shirt, also black, was a v-cut tank top. Alex had a black and dark blue ensemble; the shirt was long-sleeved and made of a thin, knit-material and simple black jeans and black sneakers.

"So," said Kaden, tucking his hands into his coat pockets and scuffing his foot along the cement, "From what Halle said, we all got some similar ambitions."

"That's the idea," Alex said.

Halle took a deep breath. "I—we just want to do something significant with our lives, something that makes a difference. We have…gifts, and we need to use them."

"Mom and Dad won't be happy about it. They must think we are fragile or something. Ever since we got home…" Alex added.

Kaden was familiar with the feeling. "Yeah, my parents have been trying to keep me from it for years. Even though it is all I ever wanted."

"But they were all acting superheroes by the time they were our ages," Halle reasoned with a flick of her hair over her shoulder. "There are no legitimate excuses they can use to stop us without being complete hypocrites, no matter how unhappy they would be about it."

"No excuses: not mature enough, not trained enough, the world is scarier place than it was before, circumstances had forced them into the situation, it was unwise even when they did it…" The twins stared at the younger boy among them. "Things my mom's said," he clarified.

"We can keep it quiet for a while. Do our thing. Prove that we can," Halle suggested with a shrug.

"They'll find out eventually," said Alex.

"And probably try to stop us… We got to face it, they're our parents, they're gonna worry about us. They want us to be safe."

"That sounds very insightful coming from you, Kaden. I mean, you've been working with this superhero stuff a lot longer than either of us," Halle quipped.

"Yeah, well, it has given me more time to figure out all the complications involved."

"At some point," Alex said, "They'll just have to understand, accept that this is what they need to do. They might forbid us, might try to lock us in our rooms, but we'll do it anyway. Hopefully, eventually, they will be able to support it."

"That's it then. Let's go save the world."

**Epilogue**

Cyborg was getting ready to sign off for the night, plug in, shut off, charge. He would be back online in six hours but it would only seem like a second to him. Like a computer shut off and booting back up. He hadn't dreamed since he became half-machine. He missed it, sort of. Completely. All the time.

He had taken out a few robbers and muggers earlier this night. The streets were looking safe enough for the night. Dawn was in a few hours. But he was delaying. There was something horrible about losing hours of your life in the blink of an eye that was so disconcerting. He hadn't yet been able to get over it, even if had been going through this since his teenage years.

He should get over it. Particularly nowadays, really, what was he missing?

He reached out to shut off the main computer console that was used for monitoring the city and communication, one that ran on a separate circuit from the computer that he used for his charging and repairs. That was on an even more secure system than his computer monitoring system, and was hooked up to two separate backup generators in case the grid ever went down. Especially living by himself, he had to be careful to be keep charged and in good repair. His life depended on it.

Just then, a red box popped up in the corner of the screen, one he was unused to seeing. It was there to indicate that there was incoming transmition. From…

He reached out and struck a few keys that ended with him receiving the call and Gar's face filling up the screen.

"Hey, Cy. Its' me…obviously." He chuckled nervously , and scratched the back of his head in a tick Victor recognized. After all these years, some things don't change.

"Hey," he responded in like.

Neither spoke for a moment, just stared at the screens where the projected images of their past friend was.

"You— want something?" Cyborg eventually ventured.

"Yeah, um, well, Rae and I just got this new case we're working on. And it has some stuff to do with like cyber theft. And you know how us two are like with computers. So, we were thinking that maybe," he shrugged, "You might want to work on it…with us." The last two words were tentative, soft, unsure. Cyborg knew exactly what this was. It was an apology, an offer, a new start

"Yeah, I mean, I'd be glad to help." This was acceptance.

Gar, Beast Boy, smiled one of his big, toothy smiles. "Cool. Right. I will send you the info tomorrow… um, night."

"Yeah, night."

* * *

Aki- Wow, finally done. Please drop me a line about what you think. I forgot to mention last chapter that Val is actually a real character in the comics.


End file.
